Responsive web design is the hippest word used by web designers in 2013. As if it were the latest new toy for entrepreneurs. At parties where the question “do you have a responsive website yet?” comes up, you are looked at with pity if your answer is “no”. However, responsive design is a one size fits all solution and does not take individual users into account. Is it time for the next phase?
What exactly is responsive web design?
Responsive web design is a technique where an existing web page adapts smoothly to the size of a brother cell phone list screen, regardless of the device. A developer defines a number of breakpoints, and when you go below a breakpoint, the content is placed differently. In some cases, elements are displayed differently, or even omitted. For example, a menu often changes to a drop-down menu, or large leader images disappear.
In itself, responsive web design aims at nothing more than that a visitor can read the website in a more pleasant way via a smartphone or tablet. The content becomes more readable and you no longer have to pinch or swipe on the screen.
But responsive does not help to
optimize your conversion, guide the visitor more effectively through the website or make optimal use of the functionality of the device that is used. Let alone that responsive is a solution for the enormous amount of devices that are yet to come. How do you solve this for Google search engine optimization mails Glass or iWatch, for example ? To start with the latter: will that be one word per line? That is not really conducive to that conversion…
Relatively cheapWhy go for respon
As I have previously dismissed responsive web design as a ‘ poor man’s content 5. after-sales experience: follow-up and strategy ‘, we can now also add that it is – thanks to out of the box solutions like Bootstrap – a relatively cheap solution to make your website readable on other screens . And that is quite an achievement.
Responsive web design is a ‘one size fits all solution’