With more and more Internet usage becoming mobile, website owners now, more than ever, must consider “mobilizing” their sites for easy cell phone, tablet or mobile device access. The norm for mobile website production was originally to create a completely separate template and URL for accessing a website on a mobile device but this process took time, money and had common glitches and lag. Responsive Web Design is making this formerly complicated process a whole lot easier by providing one simple platform intended to make a website equally compatible on both desktop computer browsers and mobile devices.
The platform, using one URL, automatically adjusts the website contents size, images, and settings to fit the browser making the site functional and aesthetically pleasing for the user regardless of the access point. Guessing that a user who tries to access a site on their phone unsuccessfully will be a lot less likely to re-visit the site from another device is a pretty fair assumption, so the importance of creating functional mobile sites is critical to attaining site hits.
With hundreds of options and brands of tablets and mobile devices in the market today, it is unlikely that desktop computers are the main access station for web surfers. The user should be able to navigate the site as easily on their smart phone as on any other device considering the number of smart phone owners in this day and age. The average smartphone is 320 pixels, the typical desktop computer is 1600 Pixels, and the average tablet is 760 pixels. By using responsive web design techniques a site will be ensured to function with the exact same quality regardless of the device.