Firms building custom customer websites now need responsive web design, which was once a “nice to have.” There is no longer room for error when designing for certain screen dimensions, as internet-connected gadgets have dramatically increased screen sizes.
Conversely, a responsive strategy guarantees that your website will appear flawless across all screen sizes. Switching to responsive Web development will improve your client’s user experience and boost traffic by catering to all devices.
What is responsive design?
Responsive web design adjusts the site’s layout and visual features according to the user’s device or browser so visitors always see the best version. Creating a website that operates across devices, browsers, and screen resolutions is more critical.
Methods for introducing a responsive design
Utilise a fluid grid
Pixels were the standard for website layouts many years ago. A flexible grid, however, is increasingly the norm among designers.
In contrast to using a fixed size for all your site’s elements, a grid scales them proportionally. Elements will adapt to the grid size rather than the pixels you’ve specified, making responsive WordPress development a breeze across all devices.
It is common practice to use columns in a responsive grid and scale the width and height as needed. Size is not a determinant of anything; rather, the dimensions are proportional to the screen size.
By adjusting your website’s CSS and other code, you can establish the guidelines for this grid.
Allow for touchscreens
These days, even computers have touchscreens. This highlights the need to consider the needs of users with both mouse and touchscreens when designing flexible websites.
Consider making the drop-down menu on your desktop view form more extensive and accessible to touch with a fingertip if you’re using a touchscreen device. Remember that small elements like buttons are difficult to tap on smartphones. Therefore, it’s best to use graphics, calls to action, and screen-responsive buttons.
Decide on what to display on smaller screens
Having a website that looks the same on every device is different from responsive design. In pursuit of the optimal user experience, certain elements must be omitted when a visitor views your site from a tiny device.
Several responsive websites have consolidated their menus into a single button to make navigation easier. You may access the menu by pressing this button on a small screen, even though it appears expanded on a large one.
Once again, by adjusting your website’s CSS and other code, you can establish criteria for including or excluding specific items. Your guests will be very grateful, but setting this up can take a while.
Consider images
Image sizing is often a major pain point in responsive Web development. Images can be stretched to fill the screen, cropped, or treated differently depending on the screen size; this can be controlled with CSS rules.
Use one of the pre-made themes or layouts
Converting your site to responsive may require further assistance if you are not naturally gifted in design. Fortunately, assistance is accessible.
You can “cheat” and use a pre-designed layout or theme to create a responsive website if you don’t want to or have the time to construct it from scratch. To adapt it to your company’s requirements, you just have to change the colours, branding, and content.
WordPress users have access to a plethora of responsive, pre-installed themes, both free and premium. This is also true for many top e-commerce suppliers that supply themes for their websites.
Outsource your project
Obtaining a pre-made theme may be difficult if you don’t use WordPress or have a hosted e-commerce website. You may pick a design that fits your business or demands. Well, there’s always the option to commission a unique piece!
Freelance web designer knows how to make mobile-friendly sites. You’ll never have to worry about making your site mobile-friendly again if you have no other priorities.
Redesigning your site is an advanced task; therefore, before hiring a freelancer, check their references. A solid foundation in web design is necessary for designing flexible websites. Putting a price cut here would be a mistake. Put money aside to hire someone to do a good job, so you won’t have to worry about this again in six months.
Conclusion
Responsive web design is an umbrella term for many distinct practices. Making blunders is easy if you need to learn the basics of HTML and CSS. You should be fine making your website responsive if you take the time to understand the various building blocks, examine the examples using web development tools, and test your code as you go. Hiring a WordPress developer for WordPress development or ensuring that your theme is responsive are two other options if you feel overwhelmed by the thought of achieving that.
