If a designer can respond to the user’s needs through Responsive Design website pages, he has almost gone halfway to satisfying the audience. Especially considering the expansion of the number and type of devices, if a site is compatible with the screen size of different devices and has no problem presenting content, it is one step ahead of other websites.
Responsive website design means that the design and size of the elements on the website pages will change according to the length, width, and resolution of the device’s screen and other features. By doing this, you create the best experience for users of different devices such as smartphones, tablets, laptops, desktop computers, televisions, and even smart watches because they can easily and without any problems reach their desired content, and the result of this work, It is the position that you get from the search engine due to the satisfaction of different users.
So, to provide the most satisfying user experience, you must ensure that your pages have a responsive design and that the size and appearance of their content is compatible with different devices. Getting to know more about the importance of responsive design, page responsiveness testing tools, etc., will help you get the best results from different worlds (desktop, mobile, tablet, etc.):
What is Responsive Design?
Considering that the number and type of Internet devices, especially mobile devices, is increasing daily, it is impossible to create different versions of the website for all devices in the world; But what is the solution to maintain the compatibility of website pages with different devices? It is better to answer this question with Bruce Lee’s famous saying:
“Pour water into a cup; it will take the shape of a cup. Pour it inside the bottle; it will be shaped like a bottle. Pour it into a teapot; it will be the same shape as a teapot. Let us be like water. So your website will behave like water with the right design.
Responsive website design is a method that makes the content of website pages compatible with the screen size of different devices. Let’s continue with an example:
Suppose your website page consists of several separate columns, and the content in each column is arranged according to the size of each column. This page looks good on the desktop and is user-friendly. Still, this design model is not compatible with a mobile device because not only is it difficult to read the content of each column, but it also becomes more difficult to interact with that page.
This problem also causes problems in terms of SEO because mobile users, which is increasing daily, do not find answers to their questions on your page and leave the site immediately. Bounce rate is one of the most important negative signals that search engines use to rank pages.
Therefore, to increase the quality of page design and satisfy users, you should pay attention to responsive website design because, with its help, you can adjust your pages according to the screen size, platform type, and screen orientation (horizontal or vertical). Respond to the needs of each user.
Why do we need a responsive website?
Although the importance of website design is increasing daily, some website owners still do not care about their sites is active. In this section, we present the reasons that make responsive design a priority in website design:
1) Google gives priority to the mobile version.
The increase in mobile searches has made Google take this issue seriously. Since Google’s goal is to provide valuable and accessible content to users, then displaying pages with a user-friendly view to all users is valuable for Google.
As we mentioned in the article “Priority Algorithm with Mobile Version,” although the main criterion of this algorithm is to provide the same content in the desktop and mobile versions, because the screen size of different mobile phones is also different, the responsiveness of the pages is especially important. It is important for mobile users, and if you can keep them happy by displaying content regularly and correctly, you will be sure to get your reward.
2) Improving usability
The time spent on the page is an important indicator for evaluating the quality of its content. A user who cannot find the answer to the desired question, product, or service, leaves the page immediately with a sense of dissatisfaction.
A positive user experience depends on the design you have considered for the page. Responsive design makes the content of websites accessible to the user faster and more easily. Finding the desired information with less energy and time is one of the most important factors that keep the user on your page and turn him into your potential audience.
3) Better user experience
If your page provides content the user is interested in, Google will be on your side for this satisfaction. The responsive design of pages and use of appropriate content is an important step in satisfying customers and, as a result, getting rewarded (first rank in SERP) from Google.
Responsive website design makes users happy, and a happy user has more potential to become a potential customer and regular contact.
4) Improve page speed
Page speed is one of the most important factors in SEO, and as a result, it can be effective in determining the ranking of your website pages. The enthusiasm or frustration of the user depends on the page loading speed, so if you want to keep the user’s enthusiasm to visit your page, then you need to optimize your website.
Responsive design, in turn, increases page loading speed, especially on mobile devices, so for more traffic and conversion rates, take responsive design and other strategies to increase page speed seriously.
Suppose you are curious about what solution can increase page loading speed other than responsive design. In that case, we must say that many features can be activated to increase site speed, but using a suitable virtual server with high processing power is also a good idea to speed up page loading. Taking advantage of the virtual server’s strong hardware resources increases your website pages’ loading speed.
So if you have decided and aim to provide a great user experience, we recommend that you visit our virtual server purchase page and end your limitations by choosing the right plan for your website.
5) Reducing the jump rate
Bounce rate refers to users’ quick visit and exit from the page. If your page does not meet users’ needs, this rate increases daily and is one of the important negative signals for page ranking.
Don’t forget that no matter how great your content is, low quality and inappropriate design will drive the user away from the page because the content becomes valuable for the user when they can access it at high speed and without the need for many scrolls.
6) Preventing duplicate content
Although Google has no problem creating two desktop and mobile versions of the website, the same content in these two versions is one of the important factors for the priority algorithm with the mobile version. So, although creating two similar versions with the same content can have positive effects in this sense, the same content can sometimes be confusing for Google.
The best way is to create a single version with a responsive design and make the settings so that this website meets the needs of desktop, mobile, tablet, etc., users. Therefore, it is better not to sacrifice duplicate content and URL repetition issues to provide the same content to all users and choose a more optimal path with responsive design.
It is also worth mentioning that creating a responsive website is more cost-effective than creating two separate versions of the website. It is much easier and less expensive to use SEO strategies for one website than for two separate versions of the website.
7) More sharing
When users like your content, they are more likely to share it with their friends. Although the amount of sharing does not affect the ranking of pages, the goal is that your content will be available to more people, and more social traffic will increase the number of visits and create many potential users for your business.
Also, placing share buttons in the appropriate and accessible part of the page encourages users to share your content with others.
Methods of creating a responsive site
The importance of responsive page design for users and search engines is clear clear, and in this section, we will get to know the methods by which we can design a responsive site compatible with different devices:
Media (@media)
Web designers can specify certain rules using Media, and browsers and device environments must comply with these rules. Media query is an important and key part of responsive website design and has four main parts.
Media-type that tells the browser what type of media it is for.
Operators are used to combine conditions and query rules.
The media expression (media-feature-rule) is a rule or test to apply the desired CSS.
The set of rules (CSS rules) that will be applied if the rule is correct.
@media media-type and (media-feature-rule) {
/* CSS rules go here */
}
There are four types of media in total:, print, speech and screen.
With the help of these queries, developers can target the size and other features of the browser and in this way include a customized style for the website page according to the size, resolution and orientation of the device’s screen.
Some examples to learn how to define a media query:
1) Changing the background color to blue for devices whose screen is smaller than 600 pixels.
@media screen and (max-width: 600px) {
body {
background-color: blue;
}
2) Changing the text size of the body section to 12pt when printing from the page.
@media print {
body {
font-size: 12pt;
}
3) Changing the color of the text of the body section to blue for screens that have a minimum screen size of 600 pixels and their direction of rotation is horizontal.
@media screen and (min-width: 600px) and (orientation: landscape) {
body {
color: blue;
}
}
4) Changing the color of the text of the body section only for devices whose screen rotation direction is vertical.
@media not all and (orientation: landscape) {
body {
color: blue;
}
}
Bootstrap
Bootstrap is a famous CSS framework that is used to create the front-end part of a website. The high flexibility of this framework allows the front end developer to design the desired pages according to their needs.
With the help of the powerful mobile-first flexbox grid system of this framework, web designers can create responsive and mobile-friendly websites and have more control over the layout and display of pages on different devices.
The most basic bootstrap component is the grid, which is used to define the width of each page element. This grid divides the page into 12 equal columns, and page components can occupy between 1 and 12 columns.
W3.CSS
W3.CSS is one of the best alternatives to Bootstrap and makes it easier to develop websites that look good on any device. This framework is free and its use does not require the purchase of any license.
This framework is compatible with all popular browsers such as Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Safari, and Opera. It can create responsive pages using only CSS and without the need for jQuery or JavaScript libraries.
4 important aspects of responsive website design
In the responsive design of a site, you should consider the following 4 aspects:
1. reflowing content
The meaning of reflow is that the content flows again in the existing space and appears according to the size of that space. (Like water that changes shape when the container gets smaller or bigger.)
Therefore, the length and width of the content on the responsive page should be adjusted according to the screen size. Since new devices are introduced every day, this type of layout forces the browser to calculate and reload the dimensions and positions of all the elements on the page. As a result, providing optimal layouts for mobile devices and tablets is very necessary.
2. Relative sizing
Adjusting the size of elements according to the width of the browser or screen is one of the important aspects of responsive design. With the help of relative sizing, images or other elements on the page adjust their size to the size of the browser.
%, vw, ex, vmin, vh and… among the relative units that can be used in page design.
3. Media query
In order to change the performance of a responsive page according to the device’s hardware features, we need a series of conditions that, if true, will change how the elements on the page are displayed. As a fundamental part of CSS3, the Media query feature allows you to render your content according to various factors such as screen size and resolution. A multimedia query specifies how to modify content when breakpoints (specified conditions) are encountered.
This property works just like the if conditional statement, and before executing the code, it checks whether the page view is large enough or not.
An example:
@media screen and (min-width: 760px) {
.full-width-img {
width: 80%;
}}
If the screen width is at least 760 pixels, full-width-img class images occupy eighty percent of the screen.
In order to make proper use of media queries, you must first be familiar with the size of different devices to make the necessary bets, the most common of which are the following:
360 x 640: Mobile
375 x 667: Mobile
360 x 720: Mobile
768 x 1024: tablet
1366 x 768: Laptop
1920 x 1080: Laptop or desktop with high resolution
4. Compatible with all devices
Flexibility is the main component of a responsive site. This feature makes the size of the pages compatible with the screen and provides a better user experience by presenting the content more attractively. The pages of these websites change based on the size of the page, the size of images, fonts, types of menus, how to display content, etc. are adjusted based on the features of the device.
Advantages of Responsive Design
Designers, developers, and business owners benefit from the following benefits of responsive site design:
Get more traffic from mobile devices
When reports show that more than 50% of the visits to the top sites are made through mobile, then it is quite natural that the responsiveness and compatibility of the content of the pages with the size of the mobile screen become an important reason for increasing the traffic of the site.
Faster development at lower cost
If a business, without considering separate versions for its site, uses responsive design, and provides full compatibility of pages with mobile devices, in addition to lower cost, it will have faster website development.
Less maintenance requirements
Having a separate version for mobile requires more testing and support, but the responsive design process uses standard testing methods to ensure the optimal layout of each page. Having two separate versions for desktop and mobile requires content strategies, user interface and possibly two separate design teams. As a result, business owners with the slogan “a design compatible with all devices” can focus more on other areas, such as marketing and content creation by saving time and money for maintenance.
Lower bounce rate
A responsive site provides a much better user experience for the visitor, which makes the user stay on the site for a longer time and visit its different parts. On the other hand, a disorganized and inconsistent site with a screen size does not have much ability to attract visitors, so the probability of returning users to the website is less.
Higher conversion rates
By reducing the bounce rate, you are only halfway there, the main success happens when new users become potential customers because they are completely satisfied with the content of the site. In fact, having a secure website that looks professional on all platforms will increase the desire of users to visit your page, and this will reduce their desire to visit competitors’ sites.
Easier analytical reports
Tools like Google Analytics provide traffic reports, how users interact, etc. that can improve awareness. If a site has several separate versions, the path that must be taken to check the site’s performance becomes longer and more complicated. Having a responsive site makes the monitoring process easier. Especially Google Analytics 4, which provides analysis of site performance on different devices and makes it easier for business owners.
SEO improvement
Responsive design is important not only for users but also for search engines. Although stronger backlinks and lower bounce rates improve page rank, an optimized website for all devices is an important ranking signal. Also, having a responsive website instead of separate desktop and mobile versions with duplicate content can help improve website page rankings.
Improved online browsing experience
A site that provides a beautiful and neat experience for the user on the first visit will leave a mark in the visitor’s mind, and this means a positive experience. If visitors have to do things like zoom in on their first visit, they are likely to give up after a while and try another website.
Improved offline browsing experience
Today, when many mobile and tablet browsers are compatible with HTML5, the responsive design of pages makes it easy to view website content without internet access. This is a feature that is beneficial for some users and will satisfy them.
Disadvantages of responsive design
Slow loading speed – Although responsive websites are easier to maintain; sometimes the page takes a long time to load. High-resolution images and videos are among the reasons for slow loading speed on mobiles. The slow loading speed is also disappointing for users who have an attention span of less than 3 seconds.
Harder Navigation – Responsive website design is done to make pages compatible with all devices, but sometimes it becomes more difficult to keep large sites simple for devices with small screens and scroll and navigate for mobile users.
Need more time to develop – Responsive websites take much longer to develop than regular websites.
Incompatibility of Responsive Design with Old Browsers – Responsive design of pages is not a good idea if website users mostly prefer old browsers.
The best tools for testing the responsiveness of website pages
Modern website designers understand the importance of responsive design and usually use special tools to check the responsiveness of their website pages. The reason for using these tools is that accessing hundreds of physical devices and testing pages on them requires a lot of energy and cost, but these tools make it easier for designers and test the responsiveness of pages in a virtual environment:
1. Mobile Friendly Test
If the way to display content on mobile is one of your priorities, you can use this wonderful tool. In general, the purpose of using this tool is to test the website’s compatibility with mobile, which, in addition to providing information about the comfort level of the visitor, also provides suggestions on how to fix the problems.
Try the Mobile Friendly Test tool!
2. Responsive Test Tool
Responsive Test Tool is one of the most popular tools for testing the responsiveness of websites, which after receiving the URL, shows the website on different devices in vertical and horizontal orientation, and supports various features and failure points for mobile devices and tablets. , TV and desktop, still maintains its efficiency in this field.
Try the Responsive Test Tool!
3. Responsive Design Checker
Using this tool, you can check the website on different screen sizes for free. This tool has provided attractive options for users, the most important of which is the ability to manually change the size of the device and test the website in different resolutions.
Try Responsive Design Checker!
4. pixeltuner
Pixeltuner allows you to test a site at different breakpoints for mobile and desktop. This tool is very easy to use and this feature has made it one of the best responsive design tests.
Try the pixel under tool!
But you can also use the Inspection tool to test the responsiveness of the pages!
If you like to perform this test from the same page and provide a suitable design by applying settings and customizing features for different device sizes, you can use the browser’s own tool. If you are using Chrome or Firefox browser, you can right-click on the screen and select the Inspect tool.
After the section related to this tool is opened, by clicking on the section below, you can specify the size of the desired device and see how to display the contents of the page on that device.
* Dropbox, Dribbble, GitHub, Shopify, and Magic Leap sites are ideal examples of responsive sites that you can use to get an idea of how to design them.
Conclusion
Responsiveness of pages may not have been important in the past, but now that the variety of devices is increasing day by day and most users use mobile phones to search the internet, responsive website design is one of the priorities. As much as the user uses the desired content on your site with more satisfaction and motivation, the score of your site’s pages will also improve.
Thank you for staying with us until the end of the article. We hope that reading this article was useful for you. If you have any questions, requests and need guidance, you can contact us by registering your opinion so that we can answer you as soon as possible.