Responsive Web Design: Why It’s the Standard

We are all agreed: websites need to look good on a range of devices from full size monitors, to tablets, to smartphones. It has been over a year since Google expanded its use of mobile-friendliness as a ranking signal. Google even said in the announcement, “This change will affect mobile searches in all languages worldwide and will have a significant impact in Google Search results.” [Note]

To summarize: your rankings in Google search results are impacted by your website's responsiveness (or lack thereof), then responsive web design (RWD) is not just a recommendation anymore. In other words, if your site doesn't look good on your phone, then you have some catching up to do.

So why is it so hard to convince some users that responsive web design (RWD) is important for their sites? There are still people who think that for complex sites and catalogs, a mobile-specific, slimmed-down version of a site was still the best approach.

But as web technologies evolve, we’re constantly re-evaluating our processes. The availability of high-quality grid frameworks like Bootstrap and Foundation have provided us with powerful new development tools. And the capabilities of modern web browsers, including those on mobile devices, made us firm believers that RWD is not only the most effective way to support website users across multiple devices, it is not negotiable.

What this means for the sites we develop, is that RWD is not an afterthought. In fact, we develop with “mobile-first” in mind. Using the Foundation framework we can create beautiful, custom sites that are responsive and unique. Existing sites built on the application frameworks we often use: CMC3, ExpressionEngine, and ShopSite, can be refreshed - transformed, really - with a new look-and-feel and responsive design.