Mobile is becoming a tidal wave in the ecommerce world. In fact, Gartner predicts that by 2014, at least 12 percent of web sales will be made on mobile devices, and by 2015, 80 percent of online sales will be influenced by social or mobile marketing. Many websites already report that 60 to 80 percent of their traffic comes from mobile devices. No digital marketer can afford to ignore mobile and hope to achieve reasonable conversion rates from digital marketing.
Many companies initially addressed the mobile onslaught by creating an app, and indeed, creating an app is better than ignoring the mobile onslaught. The increase in the number of mobile platforms – iPhones, iPads, Android devices, Windows Mobile devices – make attempting to address mobile with apps a losing proposition. Even the largest and most tech savvy company would have trouble creating apps for all the devices and screen sizes that exist today. There must be a better way.
There is a better way and it is RWD, or responsive web design. Responsive web design isn’t just the buzzword du jour; it is a set of tools and a design philosophy that addresses making the website user experience an enjoyable one. If the numbers weren’t so staggering and the consequences of ignoring responsive web design techniques weren’t so dire, it would be easy to dismiss RWD as the latest hype.
Users get frustrated if they have to scroll around your site to find the information they need. Additionally, users have no patience for fancy graphics, music and animations that slow them down. They don’t want to put down their tablet or smartphone in order to log onto your site with a PC. Users would rather move on to your competitor’s website with its easy-to-navigate responsive design that gives them information they need.
Responsive web design is more than adding a few lines of code to your site so the screen resizes. RWD isn’t just about cutting content and graphics either. Responsive web design actually entails rethinking the entire design of your website. For example, many sites have fancy graphics on slider panels at the top of the page, but that isn’t the best idea for a responsive website. You will want your responsive website to be sparse and clean so users can go directly to the important content without having to scroll around endlessly.
You’ll want to make sure all your graphics dynamically resize so they display properly, but you’ll also want to rethink whether the graphic is necessary if it comes between the user and your call to action. Content still matters, as does SEO, but don’t become a bloated text heavy sites with an obscure hidden message. With responsive design and mobile web devices, the old adage “Less is more” becomes truer than ever.
If you want to your conversion rates high as consumers continue to turn to mobile devices, it is worth your time toget onboard and to learn more about responsive web design.
