Responsive Web Design: Best Practices

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The number of mobile phone users has increased rapidly during the previous decade. There were more than 2.5 billion social media users in 2019. These facts drive website designers to focus specifically on responsive web design. People spend more time on mobile phones than on any other internet-enabled device. 

Another report from Statista shows that 57.64% of website global traffic is mobile traffic. Having a mobile-compatible website is among the essentials of a business process. Responsiveness increases consumer engagement and enables businesses to achieve their business goals. Even Google recognizes website responsiveness as a ranking factor. 

Designers need to keep up with the responsive design trends to provide value for their consumers and outrank their competition. This article highlights the best responsive design practices to look for in 2022. 

Mobile first approach to responsive designs:- 

Responsive designs accustom themselves according to the device screens. Since mobile phones are the most popular devices, the mobile-first approach will be in the hype in 2022. There are various reasons why this approach works well:

  • Mobile websites require extra attention due to the lack of screen real estate. It makes it a more efficient model for mobile designs. 
  • After creating the based model for mobile devices, It is easier to scale it for other devices.
  • Mobile-first web designs facilitate the reevaluation of functional possibilities of the website design. 

There are several design questions a designer can get answers to by taking a mobile-first approach. Some of them are as follows:

  • Is a feature/function necessary for the specific niche users?
  • How to scale the base variant to other devices?
  • Does a website element decrease its loading speed?

All these questions set a good starting point for website designs and help designers create a constructive itinerary. 

Here are some responsive design best practices every designer must consider in 2022. 

  • Minimalistic approach:- 

The primary purpose of a responsive website design is to ensure consumer convenience. A minimalistic website design facilitates easy navigation and increases user experience. It enhances the consumer experience and provides ample opportunities to add functions to a website design. 

The screen real estate constraint requires designers to create design elements that fit comfortably on the device screen. It should not oversize a webpage. It is better to decide on the placement of essential website elements and then scale from there. 

  • Easy to find CTAs:- 

A CTA is the last stage of a sales funnel. It is a button people click and add as a conversion to your business endeavors. Top Web Design agencies focus specifically on calls to action to make them easily visible to the visitor’s eye. It can be anything ranging from purchasing a piece of software, scheduling a consultation, or signing up for an application. 

Businesses usually have the main call to action to drive people specifically to this call to action. The main call to action is usually the final step of a sales funnel. It is essential to ensure easy navigation to your primary CTA. 

It is an even bigger challenge when it comes to mobile phones. Designers focus on making it consistent throughout the website. However, if it is hard to maintain consistency, one must consider putting it on the hamburger menu and getting it as visible as possible. 

  • Use scalable vector graphics (SVGs):- 

SVGs or scalable vector graphics are essential elements of responsive website design. Unlike image files, SVGs are infinitely scalable and help enhance consumer engagement. 

You can rest easy knowing that any icon or graphic will remain of the best quality without worrying about the pixels and resolutions. It results in a consistently polished look no matter what device your visitors use to access your website. 

Furthermore, SVGs are lighter website elements that help increase the loading speed of your website.

  • Responsive imagery:- 

Different image sizes fit different device screens. A desktop page may support an image 1200px wide on the other hand, its mobile version may require only 400px. That’s effectively a third of the physical size as well. 

Responsive imagery adjusts itself according to the screen size of the website screen. It greatly enhances the consumer experience and engagement on the website.

  • Engaging typography:- 

Content is your primary way of conveying essential business information to your target audience. One must leverage effective and clear typography to increase consumer engagement and achieve your business goals. 

How do you suppose people respond to your business proposition without proper interpretation of your website content? Another essential consideration is typefaces. Your typefaces must go with other design elements of your website design and appeal to your consumers. 

Make sure to balance the heading and body font sizes for different devices. Both of them must not be off-putting to each other. 

  • Utilize hardware resources:-

Responsive website design is not all about making everything fit the device screen. It is also about utilizing the hardware resources and ensuring a multi-dimensional user experience for your visitors. The hardware resources of a mobile device are not reserved specifically for native applications.

The most common example is the scanning of a QR code to initiate a payment gateway. 

  • Flexibility:- 

Flexibility is among the vitals of website design. Layout, images, text blocks, components, and all design elements must be responsive. It is essential to ensure the proper cropping and sizing of the website design. It includes creating square versions of landscape images for mobile devices. 

Designers focus on the three breakpoints (mobile, tablet, and desktop). It helps them decide on various website elements and ensures design flexibility. They even pay attention to the website’s performance on various operating systems, including Android, iOS, and Windows. 

  • Content prioritization:-

There are different elements of a website. One of the vital decisions a designer has to make is regarding the proper utilization of the device real estate. Designers must decide on the essential website elements and determine the ones they can hide. They now prefer using a navigation drawer for the main navigation on mobile devices.

It is better to put the informative sections on the screen and hide the others. It helps with content prioritization and increases consumer engagement.

Conclusion:- 

Responsiveness is among the essentials of modern website design. There are more mobile users than any other device. It makes it essential for designers to focus on responsive website designs.  

The most popular approach nowadays is the mobile-first approach. It helps create an itinerary for the development process and excel. Designers follow a parallel approach for three primary breakpoints including the mobile, desktop, and tablets. 

A responsive web design allows you to increase consumer engagement and achieve your business goals. 

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