You have probably came across a responsive web layout while browsing on your tablet, phone, or desktop. This may have been sized a bit bigger, and the website just kept scrolling instead of being broken up multiple different pages. When you first land on one, you may love it or hate it, either way I am going to explore a few reasons why it is the way to go.

What is Responsive:

A responsive website is built with tablets and mobile in mind. Instead of having multiple website sizes for different screens, a responsive website reacts to the size of the device it is being viewed on. It is simple, convenient, and becoming the go to design of most modern websites.

See how Microsoft and GE mastered the web with their responsive websites.

The Stats

I can tell you my personal opinion on a responsive layout, but I will let the numbers do the talking for now.

• It is predicted that 5 billion people will use mobile phones by 2017
• 61% of mobile users use a smartphone 
• In the United States, 25% of internet users only access the internet on a mobile device
• 67% of mobile users say that when they visit a mobile-friendly site, they're more likely to buy a site's product or service

User Experience

Picture this: you have to quickly place an order you forgot before a certain time on a website. The deadline is approaching, and you are visiting with your grandparents who have not even heard of the internet. So you pull out your smart phone and get stuck on the website. Your fingers suddenly feel huge, you cannot touch the link you want, and you are now considering going to the eye doctor since you can barely read any of the text.

This is frustrating. Actually, it could be so frustrating that you decide you are done with the website in general.

Keep this in mind:

• 61% of users said that if they didn't find what they were looking for right away on a mobile site, they'd quickly move on to another site
• 79% of people who don't like what they find on one site will go back and search for another site
• 50% of people said that even if they like a business, they will use them less often if the website isn't mobile-friendly

See more mobile statistics here. 

Responsive web design gives the user a better experience over all. The basics of the design work with the user in mind. It enables the user to share and find content the same way a desktop would. In a nutshell, the user wins, because they have the same experience whether they access your page from their home computer, their tablet, or their phone. 

 See more on the user experience here

SEO

Google is a fan of responsive design, and what google says goes. Simple as that. I promise they did not pay me to blindly follow their orders. However, they know what they are talking about when it comes to SEO. I may not rush out and buy a Chrome Book anytime soon, but if they give me advice on SEO, I take it.

The basics:

• A single URL for the content helps Google's algorithms assign the indexing properties for the content.
  • They are not a fan of duplicate pages
• No redirection is needed for users to get to the device-optimized view, which reduces loading time.
• For responsive web design pages, any Googlebot user agents needs to crawl your pages once, as opposed to crawling multiple times with different user agents, to retrieve your content.

It improves SEO by making life easier for Google and allowing users to share and link content easily. In the mobile era, the word is spread by users sharing great content, and if they cannot do that then you are doing something wrong.

See what Google has to say here. 

ROI

ROI refers to return-on-investment. If nothing else changes your mind about responsive, then this should.

How it works:

• Mobile sites often suffer from a higher bounce rate if the content is stripped down or difficult to read
• You are increasing your market to those using tablets and smartphones
  • Earlier we gave the statistics that should convince you that about this argument
• You are not balancing multiple websites that fit different platforms, which keeps your analytics all in one place.
  • This makes it so you can have a better understanding of your audience
• It is cheaper to maintain and run one responsive site as opposed to a site for desktop and mobile.