Q. What is ‘Responsive Website Design’?

Digital Agency Sussex - SEO Consultancy | eapbQ. What is ‘Responsive Website Design’?

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responsive website design

Responsive Website Design
Question: What is ‘Responsive Website Design’? On our client travels we get asked this question a lot, particularly from smaller businesses. In fact over the last 18 months this question crops up more frequently than ever.

It often seems the case to us that when visiting new prospects we come across the business owner, CEO, marketing director etc., etc., seemingly increasingly frantic to understand the latest trend in online marketing. OK, so that’s not such a bad thing, a quest for knowledge and an understanding of what’s new and what’s not!

The development of new browsers, platforms and hardware seems to gather speed year after year. Does anybody remember the netbook? Well it was a development of the laptop/notebook. However, just as fast as it hit the shelf at Amazon and Dell – along comes the Tablet and BOOM, our friend the netbook disappears faster than it arrived!

Current consensus of opinion is that we may soon have one portable device, of a size somewhere in between a tablet and a smartphone. Let’s call it a ‘smar(t)tablet’. In the meantime, however we have a plethora of different sized devices:

  • PC or desktop computer
  • Laptop
  • Tablet
  • Smartphone

Responsive website design delivers a presentation of a website which automatically configures depending on the platform/device (screen size) being used by the individual. This provides an optimal viewing experience, easy reading, clear navigation and usability.

If you view the eapb website on a smartphone, you will notice that you do not have to pinch the screen or zoom in and out to make the copy and content legible. You will see a different configuration of the eapb website on a PC as opposed to a smartphone – whilst retaining the same copy, content and menus.

As the number of smartphone and tablet users continues to climb, it follows that the percentage of all online searches carried out on a smartphone or tablet also rises. Thus, it is becoming increasingly important for businesses to present their website in a ‘responsive design’ or format that configures to the device being used.