Responsive Web Design: Did you know that approximately 75% of US citizens are online daily?
This information is something each online business should capitalize on! But what if your business website is not optimized to convert these visitors into paying customers?
In this case, you need to learn more about responsive web design. In short, responsive website design refers to websites created primarily with the user in mind. You can do many things to improve your website and make it more user-friendly for visitors worldwide.
Keep reading to find out how!
How to Optimize Your Website
Contrary to some beliefs, responsive web design can significantly influence search engine optimization (SEO).
For example, search engines prefer websites that are easy to navigate and rank higher in result pages. Put the following tips into practice to optimize your website and make it more responsive:
1. Increase Website Loading Speed
What would you do if you land on a website which takes too long to load?
If you're like most people, you'll probably leave the website and never come back again. This fact means that website loading speed is paramount for the success of your online business. Responsive websites load incredibly fast, not only on desktop computers but on tablets and smartphones too.
This added speed means that your website will be easily accessible to visitors and potential customers. As a rule of thumb, if your website takes longer than 3 seconds to load, it's too slow.
2. Simplify Your Website
In other words, make it easier for your visitors to access essential pages on your website.
Eliminate unnecessary links and pages. Keep just the essentials and opt for a horizontal menu, if possible, instead of a vertical one. Internet users are more inclined to read from left to right instead of top to bottom. That's why horizontal menus are used more over vertical ones.
If users have to click through numerous pages to reach the most important ones on your website (such as your blog, contact page, or services page), then your website is too complicated to use.
It's also great to have a logo on your website to make your business look more trustworthy. If you don't have a logo yet, you might want to see a few logo design trends to get inspired.
3. Reduce Bounce Rate
An essential part of responsive web design and improving SEO is to reduce the bounce rate.
The bounce rate is the number of visitors who leave your website after viewing just one page. This bounce means that they didn't feel motivated to stay on your site and explore your content or services.
Many visitors leave your website because it's too dull or poorly structured if you have a high bounce rate. So make sure that you reduce your bounce rate at all costs. You can view your current bounce rate in the Google Analytics dashboard.
4. Make Your Text Easy to Read
One of the things people hate when visiting a website is the way text is displayed.
Illegible text hurts SEO and causes a high bounce rate. Make sure you use an appropriate color scheme with complementary contrast colors.
Remember that not everyone has good eyesight, making sure your website has an appropriate text size. It shouldn't be too small, but not excessively large either. You can use readability tools to check if the layout of your website is good enough for people to stick around.
5. Avoid Pop-Ups
Pop-ups can be very annoying, especially if they appear immediately after a visitor has landed on your website.
Website owners use pop-ups to collect email addresses or instruct visitors to take action. However, most visitors don't trust the website yet, so why would they offer their email addresses?
It's advisable to avoid pop-ups at all costs. However, if you still want to use them, make sure they appear at a later stage when visitors are already familiar with your content and starting to trust your business.
6. Avoid Large Images or Video Files
This tip is part of improving the loading speed of your website.
Remember that not everybody has a fast internet connection. If you have large images and video files on your website, it will load slowly for your visitors. As a result, they'll leave and go to your competition.
To make your website responsive and improve SEO, use small images and avoid video files. If you need to display videos, upload them on YouTube and embed them on your website.
7. Keep Social Sharing in Mind
Internet users are addicted to sharing stuff with their friends.
Whether it's a cute picture of a cat, a recipe, or a viral video, sharing is one of the most popular online activities. So take advantage of that and make your website more responsive by implementing social sharing buttons on your web pages.
For example, add social sharing buttons at the end of each blog post to share it with their friends. Also, add social sharing buttons in the footer of your website, so people can find them quickly and share your website with everyone. If your website layout allows it, you can also add these buttons above the header of your homepage.
Some people even put social sharing websites in their "Contact Us" and "Services" pages to help visitors spread the word easier. Focusing on social sharing makes your website modern, responsive, and profitable simultaneously.
Implement These Responsive Web Design Tips Today!
Achieving a responsive web design is not impossible. You need to do your homework and try the tips mentioned above.
If you don't know which one to start with, try making your website load faster, as this can make a big difference.
Please read our article on increasing loading speed, and you're on the right track to success!
Now is the time to start updating your website to be more responsive and user-friendly (i.e., AMP, Mobile, SEO, Website Speed Optimization, etc.). Do you need professional design and technical help or a web designer near me?
