When you’re designing a new website, or making improvements to your current one, one of the most important elements you need to think about is how responsive the design is. A website with a poor responsive design can lead to high bounce rates, poor UX and fewer results. On the other hand, a strong responsive web design can deliver a positive UX, improve results and reinforce brand trust and loyalty.

In this blog, we’ll dive into what exactly responsive web design is, why it’s important, and some helpful hints and tips to help you improve your own responsive web design.

What Is Responsive Web Design?

Responsive web design does exactly what it says in the name – it allows the website to respond to whatever device or orientation the user is accessing the website from. So if someone is accessing your website from a mobile, desktop, portrait or landscape orientation, your website can adapt to its environment so it’s always looking its best.

You’ll notice these responsive web design changes if you access a website from a desktop and also on a mobile device. For instance, the web design for the mobile device will be narrower, sections might be stacked on top of each other, rather than running alongside each other, and images might be scaled down to avoid filling the entire screen. Similarly, on a desktop, elements might be larger or more spaced out, as they have more space to fill.

Is Responsive Web Design Important?

Short answer: yes.

Nowadays, people are accessing the same website multiple times, from multiple devices – these are known as touchpoints. Touchpoints record each time a user has interacted with a business before taking action (i.e. making a purchase). This allows businesses to measure the success of their ad campaign, analyse where they might be losing potential customers, and also investigate if their website is delivering a smooth UX.

For example, a user might see a social media ad on their mobile, which they click to go to the mobile version of the website. They might not buy the product straightaway, and re-visit the website later on their desktop or tablet.
If a user has a smooth UX on the mobile site, but then has a clunky experience when they navigate the desktop or tablet version of the site, they might lose trust in the brand and leave the site without making a purchase.

Benefits Of Responsive Web Design For Mobile Users

Over the last decade, our online consumption has evolved beyond sitting at a clunky desktop screen hearing the ear-piercing screech of our dial-up internet kicking in. Now we have the world wide web at your fingertips thanks to our smartphones that are practically an extension of our bodies. In 2023, over 55% of website traffic came from mobile users. This means that nearly half of all the traffic coming to your website are using their mobiles.

So it’s not enough to have a website that works perfectly on desktops, you also need to make sure your website looks and functions just as perfectly on mobile devices as well. Otherwise, you could be losing nearly half of your website visitors just from having a site that isn’t responsive and poorly optimised.

And with over one third of UK shoppers buying their goods on mobile devices, you could be costing yourself a lot of potential revenue by not having a responsive web design. As we mentioned earlier in the blog, a user goes through several touchpoints before they take any action, and if one of those touchpoints leads to a bad UX (like a website design that isn’t responsive) then they’ll exit the journey empty-handed.

A recent report from Forbes shows that mobile commerce sales are going to account for over $750 billion dollars in the US alone by 2025. Therefore, with mobile sales predicted to grow year-on-year, it’s crucial that your business and websites are catering to your smartphone shoppers.

Our Tips For A Strong and Responsive Website

If you’re not sure how responsive your website is, there’s a really easy way to test this. Simply grab all your different devices and go to your website. At the very least, make sure you have a desktop, tablet and a smartphone.

Next, put yourself in your customer’s shoes and see how easy it is to navigate your site, find all the relevant information and checkout with your new purchase.

Pay attention to how your site is looking and changes across the different devices and orientations. If you know the different touchpoints of your site that customers interact with, pay attention to these across your range of devices. Also, if you have specific landing pages that you use in your ad campaigns, pay close attention to these as well.

As you’re going through this exercise, ask yourself these questions:

  • Is information missing when it’s condensed down into a mobile format?
  • Is it easy to find your navigation menu?
  • Are elements too small, too large or in the wrong order?
  • How smooth is the checkout process?

Ultimately, is your website delivering the same experience on all devices?

If you’re in the midst of designing a new website, then make sure you’re assessing the designs on both desktop and mobile to make sure it has the same look and feel regardless of the device the customer might use.

Responsive Web Design Examples

If you’re struggling for inspiration when it comes to your responsive website design, we’ve put together a shortlist of some of the best examples of responsive web designs.

Spotify

You might be very familiar with the app, but music streaming giant Spotify has seamlessly created a responsive web design that delivers a clean, user-friendly experience across all devices.

On the desktop, they take advantage of the extra space by showcasing a range of music options for the user to choose from. However, their design style means it doesn’t look too cluttered, so the user doesn’t feel overwhelmed when browsing for music to listen to.

On mobile, they seamlessly stack elements together to make it easier for user to scroll and tap to find the playlist or album they want. Again, even though elements are closer together and stacked on the smaller screen, the design never feels busy or difficult for the user to navigate.

Knoops

Luxurious hot chocolate chain Knoops ensure that the UX on their website is memorable, regardless of the device they’re using.

Whether you’re scrolling through on your phone, or clicking through on your laptop, each element is adapted to the device size. Users can take their chocolate quiz quickly and easily and learn more about the unique chocolate brand in just a few taps or clicks.

The design might be simple, but this is part of their brand.

Simple, luxurious, memorable. Therefore, when users visit the stores, they can feel the same experience they had on their websites in-store as well.

Responsive Web Design: What It Is And Why It Matters

Whether you’re designing a brand new website, or looking to improve your current site, it’s crucial to consider responsive web design.

Users are interacting with brands at multiple touchpoints, across multiple devices. If a user has a good experience on your desktop design, but then the design isn’t optimised for mobile, then you risk the user exiting the journey empty-handed.

You can follow our useful tips to help you understand if your current website design is responsive and if it’s providing our seamless UX. Or, if you’re lacking inspiration, you can take a look at our examples of strong responsive web designs.

Or, you can book in a call with our web team to discuss how you can make your responsive web design stronger.