With more than 4 billion users of mobile devices in the world, it is not a surprise that there is an increase in mobile traffic on WordPress websites as compared to the desktop user audience. So to provide a quality experience the websites are designed keeping a responsive web design in mind.
A responsive website means a website which can modify any web page to the size of the viewer’s screen. If they are using a laptop, tablet or any kind of mobile they will have an identical quality experience using the website.
Why Create a Responsive Web Design?
It is important to provide a straightforward and fluent experience to the users so they can easily engage and navigate your website. Although crafting a responsive design for a website can be a time-consuming process but it is very important for every WordPress website to do it.
Responsive web design is important for users as well as businesses. As users and businesses are directly connected with each other. If users have a good experience it will increase the chance of engagement, growth, and conversion rates. Here are the most important reasons for having a responsive web design.
Ranking Higher on Google
The number one search engine in the world Google also recommends that a website should be more mobile-friendly. As the majority of users visiting your site are likely to be using a mobile device. Google search engine ranks responsive websites higher because users find accessing such sites more convenient.
Search engine optimization can be a time-consuming process but responsive web design has the qualities of helping google easily crawl and index a Website. Due to which most responsive websites are ranked higher on Google search engine.
Speed
Most WordPress website owners set up their sites by using themes or web templates which do not have a responsive design. Due to which some websites have very long load times. Users prefer sites which can load in a much faster time.
A well performing and responsive website should load within 3 seconds. The users will experience faster load times from the moment they open the site. This speedy loading creates a higher possibility of users to stay on the responsive site than an unresponsive website.
Bounce Rate
Many WordPress websites suffer a high bounce rate because of the site not providing a better user experience. But a responsive web design will have lower bounce rates because the users will feel comfortable exploring your site. And a better user experience will have greater chances of having longer session times.
[perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”RocketFuel” link=”https://www.gorocketfuel.com/the-rocket-blog/whats-the-average-bounce-rate-in-google-analytics” color=”” class=”” size=””]As a rule of thumb, a bounce rate in the range of 26 to 40 percent is excellent. Anything over 70 percent is disappointing for everything outside of blogs, news, events, etc[/perfectpullquote]
The bounce rate can increase or decrease due to the content on site or the price of services offered etc. But a responsive website can provide a quality experience to users creating better chances of lowering bounce rates.
An increase in Conversion Rate
Although the increase in conversion rate depends on a successful marketing campaign and accessibility of quality content. But a responsive website can create organic interaction with the audience. The viewer of a responsive website is satisfied with the mobile-friendly design and feel more secure using such site.
An optimized and responsive website is more preferred by Google and is ranked higher on the search engine creating an increase in organic traffic.
The users’ bounce rate decreases and in return, they feel more secure in trusting a website. Providing a professional look with an easily accessible design creates a cycle of increase in conversion rates of product and services.
Building a Community
Many WordPress websites which offer products and services spend a lot of money and time to create a community around their website. Having a responsive web design will create better engagement with the user and help in building a community.
Most users surf the web through their mobile devices and like to interact in ways that are convenient and don’t require much effort. When users can access your site on the go and whenever they want, there’s a much greater chance of building a following and a loyal community.
Online browsing
When a new user stumbles on your website and finds it difficult to navigate around the site, they just back out of it and never look back.
With a responsive and optimized web page, users will experience a quality online browsing experience. A responsive web design provides users with positive and easy online browsing while on the desktop or on mobile devices.
Monitoring Analytics
A responsive website will generate more mobile traffic and play an important role in monitoring the analytics of a website more efficiently. Most WordPress sites use Google analytics for their web pages.
After 2016 when it was discovered that mobile users have overtaken desktops, Google implemented their mobile first indexing strategy. These days if you want to check your website speed on Google page speed Insights you will see your mobile page speed first rather than your desktop.
Businesses track and analyze according to the changes shown through analytics. A responsive website helps businesses to plan and create reports based on the activities on their products on all devices.
Conclusion
Stats show that the majority of internet traffic comes from mobile devices. And the rate of such traffic and devices is increasing on a daily basis. It is now crucial for every WordPress website to have a responsive website design and create changes which are more mobile friendly.
As a web developer you can test mobile responsiveness with a tool such as https://www.websiteplanet.com/webtools/responsive-checker/.
Although IOS and Android mobile users prefer to use apps over visiting a web page on their mobile devices. But a responsive website will provide these users with a mobile-friendly browsing experience reducing the need to use apps. As a result, websites with responsive design prove more beneficial for businesses and services.
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