2021 will mark the 22nd year of Digital Tea developing websites for clients in Edmonton and across North America. During that time, we’ve seen a lot of changes. Including Google becoming the dominant search engine, the emergence of social media and social media advertising, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) evolving from “black hat” to the science it is today, e-Commerce becoming mainstream, responsive web development becoming a necessity for all organizations, and much more.
Our first article in this series looked at e-commerce, this time we’re going to discuss Responsive web development and why it’s so important for businesses of all sizes.
What is Responsive Web Development
Responsive web development and design ensures that your website automatically responds to whatever device a visitor is using and displays a version of your site optimized for that device. Whether it’s a desktop, a tablet, a Smartphone, or even a Smart TV. Responsive web development and design doesn’t just resize and change the look of a website. Everything from user experience, file size, and performance can be optimized. Factors we take into consideration include:
- Web Design: Ensuring your website is visually appealing on all devices and easy to navigate regardless of the screen size.
- Website Usability (UI/UX): Giving visitors the best user experience whether they are using a mouse on a desktop computer or swiping on a mobile device
- Website Speed and Performance: Allowing for the quickest load times and less bandwidth usage. Users on mobile devices aren’t always on wi-fi, your site can be optimized to load quicker on mobile devices and use less of your customer’s data package.
Benefits of Responsive Web Development and Design
Users have come to expect a website to just work, regardless of what device they’re on. Google wants to ensure that users find what they are looking for quickly and easily when using their search engine. Since a majority of searches are now done on a mobile device, Google switched to mobile-first indexing in 2019. This means Google predominantly uses the mobile version of your website for indexing and ranking. A mobile-optimized website will help your Google rankings and make it more likely for potential customers to find your business instead of your competitors.
A responsive website is not only beneficial for SEO reasons. Happy web visitors will stay on your site longer, view more pages, and are more likely to contact your business or make a purchase on your website.
In conclusion, responsive web development and design benefits include:
- Happier Web Users: Today’s users expect your site to just work on any device they’re using. If your site is slow or difficult to navigate, they’ll move on to the next site.
- Higher Website Conversion Rates: The longer a visitor stays on your site the more opportunities you will have to convert them into a lead or a paying customer. When was the last time you stayed on a website that was slow or difficult to navigate? Most users will just move on to the next site in the search results.
- Search Engine Optimization Boost: Site speed and usability, especially on mobile devices, will directly influence your Google Ranking.
A Responsive Website is Important for all Digital Marketing Strategies
Before you start investing in Google Ads, social media management, blog or content creation for SEO, ask yourself, do I want more people viewing my website in its current state, regardless of what device they’re using? If the answer is no, then developing a responsive website should be your first investment.
Responsive website development should be part of any Search Engine Optimization strategy because of the reasons we have already discussed. Your content optimization strategies will be much more effective once site speed and usability have been optimized.
Having a strong social media presence is great but doesn’t give you the control that your own website gives your business. Your social media content should drive potential customers to your website to learn more about your business.
Google Ads are a great way to get in front of consumers looking for services and products your business offers, but all that new traffic means nothing if your current website can’t turn that new traffic into leads and paying customers.
Your website is the foundation of everything else you do online. Is it representing your business the way you want it to be?
What’s Next?
Our next blog post will focus more on Search Engine Optimization in 2021. We will discuss content creation, blogging, local SEO and more. Stay tuned and please let us know if you have any questions, feedback, or suggestions for topics you’d like us to discuss.
You can reach us with the form at the bottom of every page of our website, by phone at (780) 473-4600, or by email at info@digitaltea.com. You can also stay connected with us by following @digitaltea on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn.