How responsive web design can help increase revenue

By by Shoga Admin Posted on 8th March 2016

According to a recent study, searches that are performed on a mobile device, such as a phone or tablet, are now outnumbering the ones performed on desktops or laptops in 10 countries, with the U.S. and Japan included. Because of this market direction and that the trend will likely continue to increase, it is critical that websites offer options for mobile friendly versions of their content.

There are a couple of ways to get this done. Websites owners can provide a separate mobile version of their site, but it can be costly and inefficient to design and support two sites. The more efficient route is to create what is called in the business as a responsive website.

Responsiveness in a site happens when web designers build a site that seamlessly creates the correct viewing experience depending on the type of device that a visitor is using. The website responds to the device and provides the correct version. This means quite simply that the user will get a different and customised version of the content based on screen size, orientation, and type of platform.

This is critical to site rankings because Google has incorporated mobile friendliness into it’s factors for website ranking since 2015. Looking at load times and whether the site is mobile friendly could help or hinder the size of a site’s audience.

Sites like Facebook and Twitter also heavily depend on mobile friendly sites to help aid in marketing efforts. Let’s go over some of the reasons why website owners should consider a responsive model to their website design.

Use of mobile devices for web activity is on the rise

Here is an interesting statistic from Smart Insights: Up to 57% of users are now multi-screening – or using both a desktop/laptop and a mobile device in tandem. As well, 20%+ of Google searches are now being done of a mobile device of some kind.

In 2014, mobile devices started to outnumber desktop/laptop users in accessing websites. Across the pond in the UK, 58% of people own a smartphone and 30% of consumer sites receive their traffic via mobile devices.

Users will move to another website if they come across one that isn’t mobile friendly – i.e. providing a pleasing visual experience regardless of the device they are using. Today’s user to spoiled by all of the websites doing it right, and they expect a high quality experience. This lends itself in a critical way to the need for a responsive environment.

Not only will you enjoy repeat and increased visitors, but you make it easier to enjoy increased conversions as well.

Google wants your website to be responsive

And as the grand marshal of website traffic, we give Google what they want – after all, they provide more traffic for your site than any other source. This is because it increases ease of use for visitors, as they only need to access one URL and the site will provide the correct viewing and interaction experience for the size and type of the device. Also, the creation of only website means that Google doesn’t have to crawl more devices to perform indexing. Google will rank your site higher if you provide a responsive experience.

Efficiency is something everyone needs

As we talked about above, creating and supporting two websites will cost your company more money and resources. It makes much better business sense in most cases to support only one site that has been created in a responsive manner. You only dish out resources in development and when it comes time to make updates (which is constantly), you only have one sandbox to work in.

WordPress built sites that are available to smaller companies already have responsive ability. Larger companies have a much larger pool of resources to dish out, so in theory the playing field is level for both scenarios.

Looking through your marketing lens, it will be much more fiscally responsible to have campaigns that are equally as visually appealing on mobile as they are on the desktop. After all, if your users can’t see your marketing, you risk limiting your business. Speaking of business…

Increase sales with responsive web design

According to Google, you can expect to see a 61% decline in traffic if you have constructed a difficult to navigate website. Looking at conversion rates, you are 67% more likely to make a sale if the user has had a positive and enjoyable experience on the website.

Other studies have shown that up to 71% of people have used their mobile device to search online for products, and 27% have made purchases on their device. We can expect these numbers to climb with the increased ease of use and purchasing power that each new generation of device brings with it.

When we look at mobile marketing, the more seamless and enjoyable the experience is for the user, the more likely you are to convert with your product or service. People look at the website’s visual appeal, usability, and overall experience when making judgments on the trustworthiness of a website – which directly affects your conversion rate.

Responsive website design allows for this seamless experience as the site doesn’t require redirection when the user navigates to it. This will also allow for much faster load times, which will also increase the quality of the experience for the user.

There are several resources available to help upgrade you website into a state of the art, mobile ready solution for your users. Here are some ideas to get you on your way to a solution that will keep up with your large-scale competition:

• Make an upgrade – You don’t have to shell out tons of money to update or redesign your site. In fact, earlier we talked about Word Press, which is free for public use, and open source. Once you have this in place, you can focus your attention on a responsive theme. Many of these themes, which can be found easily online for around $75 on the high-end, come with all of the instruction you need to get off the ground quickly.
• Do some testing – Google provides responsive testing through PageSpeed Insights, or you can use a site called GTMetrix. The Google solution will give you the information you need to ensure that your setup is fast and responsive to the different needs of your users. The GTMetrix solution is more of an advanced tool, but will also provide the feedback you need to ensure the elements of your design are rock solid.
• Fetch as Google – The Search Console will allow you to have Google scan your website and then submit for indexing. All that is left now is to wait for the increase in traffic. All it takes is a few spots to make a big difference in your numbers of users – and more users mean more conversions.

If you are interested in web design or updates to your current design that could make you more mobile friendly, get in touch with us at Shoga. We can work together with your team to come up with a more effective, more responsive solution for your website.