Responsive Websites
In the golden era of advertising (think the "Mad Men" era), advertisers had to find ways to reach potential clients across the entire spectrum of media: print ads, TV spots and radio commercials were all necessary if a business owner expected to reach as many potential clients as possible. The message of each ad may have been the same, but the format of the ad needed to be altered to fit the medium that broadcasted it. Today, websites need to be just as flexible, conveying the same message but fitting and functioning on all of the platforms that people use to find information. In other words, your site needs to look good on any screen, whether it's on a laptop, mobile phone or a tablet. To reach clients wherever they happen to be —at work on desktop computers, at home on laptops, on the road on smartphones — you need a website that knows — and responds to — the type of device it's being viewed on.
What Is A Responsive Website?
A responsive website is one that changes its layout depending on the type of device that's being used to access it. A website that fits on a 15-inch laptop screen will be difficult to navigate on an iPhone or tablet. You'll need a completely different layout to effectively convey your website's message on a smartphone. Conversely, a layout designed for a mobile phone will not convey sufficient information on a desktop or laptop monitor. The solution to this problem is to create several layouts for your site — one for a computer, one for a mobile phone and one for a tablet — and to make your site responsive so that it knows what kind of device you are using and which layout to display. Creating a responsive web layout has implications beyond how the site looks. The site's navigation menu needs to function properly. Images need to be the right size. And perhaps most importantly, end users need to be able to find the information they are looking for without doing too much digging. Thoughtful and thorough consideration of these and other elements of a website is a key component of creating responsive web pages.
Why Do I Need A Responsive Website?
Mobile phones are everywhere. Tablets are growing in popularity. In cities across the globe, people are carrying instant Internet access in their pockets. They want information right away – they don't want to have to wait until they get home to find the information they need. If you are a personal injury lawyer, your clients can use their phones to find you and contact you right from the scene of a car accident. If you are a restaurateur, you clients can scan your menu while they are walking down the street. If you drive a tow truck, potential customers need only to pull out their phones, enable GPS, and determine whether you are close enough to come to their rescue. Simply put, no matter what kind of business you own, mobile phones mean that your clients are just a finger swipe away – as long as you have a website that is designed to work on a mobile phone.
How Do I Make My Website Responsive?
While the decision to make your website responsive may seem like a no-brainer, there are many factors that go into the creation of a responsive web layout. At Intelligence Storm, our developers know what it takes to make any site compatible across all platforms.