Mobile optimization of websites is the need of the hour. Today people use their phones more than their tablets, desktops, and laptops. And that is why it has become imperative to make your websites mobile friendly to attract more traffic to your webpage. To stay abreast with the changing times and keep your business alive, it is high time to switch to responsive websites.

Here we share some major benefits of using responsive web design.

What is a Responsive Website?

A website that is designed in such a way that it can adapt to any screen size is known as a responsive website. Whether you use the website on a desktop, a tablet, or a mobile phone – the website is functional and user-friendly without any need for horizontal scrolling or pinching. A mobile-friendly website gets high ranking on Google as compared to non-mobile friendly web pages. This is so because Google has lately moved to the “mobile-first” index and therefore a responsive website is vital for search engine optimization.

Latest Studies on Responsive Websites

A study has revealed that:

• A website that is not mobile friendly is immediately abandoned by almost 60% of the users.
• 50% of users are likely to use a website less frequently if they love the brand if the mobile website is not user-friendly.
• 48% of the users believe that a company without a responsive website is not concerned about its customers and reputation.
• 67% of the users will buy a product from a website that is mobile-friendly.

So if you do not have a responsive website that offers a great experience to your customers when they use it on their smartphones then you are likely to:

• Get less traffic on your site
• Get more negative reviews
• Lose profits and sales
• Lose your loyal customers

Benefits of Responsive Web Designs

1. Google’s Mobile First

Starting in April 2018, Google has shifted to “mobile first” index. As per this move, Google now prefers mobile-friendly websites over non-mobile friendly sites. This means if your website is mobile friendly then it has better chances of having a high ranking in the search engines.

2. Get Rid of Duplicate Content

Whether you have done it or not, but numerous companies have been using both a mobile version as well as a desktop version. This causes duplicate content on the web. Google bots consider any individual URL as a unique website. So if you use yourcompany.com as the URL of your desktop website and m.yourcompany.com as the mobile site then you might be penalized for duplicate content. Google crawlers do not consider these two URLs as of the same brand and expect to have different content on these two pages.

3. Reduce Bounce Rate

A responsive website reduces the bounce rate. The bounce rate is the percentage of users leaving your website instantly after looking at just one page. As studies have revealed, these days, users do not prefer to stay on websites that do not offer a good user experience on mobile phones. So with a static website, you are sure to have a higher bounce rate but with a responsive one, more users are likely to stay on your page. A responsive website offers engaging and intuitive content that is useful and easy to read by the user on their preferred choice of device – mobile.

And the low bounce rate will make Google rank your site higher than others as it will be providing a good experience.

4. Better Loading Speeds

Responsive websites load quickly on mobile phones. A static site, on the other hand, may load properly on a desktop but it could have issues when being loaded on a mobile phone in small towns. A responsive and mobile-friendly website solves the problem. And the time it takes to load your website plays a vital role in deciding your ranking in search engines like Google. Google considered loading speed as a ranking signal in its system.

Also, studies have revealed that 50% of the users will leave the page if it does not load within 3 seconds. Moreover, 79% of the users who feel dissatisfied with the loading speed of a webpage are likely to not visit again that very page.

5. Improved User Experience

A responsive, mobile-friendly website provides a better user experience to the visitor. A user is always more interested in a user-friendly interface than lavish designs. And when you want to give your user a great experience then mobile friendliness and easy navigation are the two most important aspects. A responsive web design enables both – mobile friendliness and ease of navigation and readability to the visitor.

Google takes into account a few things when it comes to usability. How much time a user spends on the webpage plays an important role in deciding what ranking your website gets on Google. Therefore, the user-friendliness of a webpage should be taken very seriously.

Get in touch with Mapzitech for innovative and mobile-friendly responsive web designs!