As a marketer, it is your job to ensure that your organization presents a consistent message across every medium. Most customers first see this message on your website, and its design is the number one criteria they use to decide whether your business and message are credible. Because smartphones and tablets now account for about two-thirds of time spent online, it’s pivotal that your website makes the best impression on every device. A responsive web design, which automatically adapts to differences in screen size, ensures that the message embedded in your site is clear no matter how it’s viewed. In today’s post, we’ll discuss two elements of responsive web design that optimize how your message is delivered and received.
On a large monitor, your home screen can comfortably fit menus, text and images that showcase your brand, but a smartphone screen is easily crowded by more than just a few elements. You could miss out on sending an important message at a key point of contact if all the carefully selected words and images are jumbled on a tiny smartphone screen.
To handle this through responsive design, web designers use media queries to control the layout and appearance of the site on different screen sizes. For example, clickable links in a desktop view will expand to full screen width to adapt to the scrolling motion used on mobile devices.
We recommend ranking the elements on each page by order of importance to your message, and prioritizing them so that the appropriate items are displayed on smaller screens. For example, you may choose to hide the image slider on mobile view and expand your logo and welcome text to fill the width of the screen.
Mobile devices lead to more personal, intimate connections with your users. They experience closer physical interaction with the content through touchscreens, and are less likely to navigate in and out of multiple tabs on a phone screen. Furthermore, mobile conversion rates have increased 29% over the past year alone, making your mobile site a key platform to connect with visitors and turn them into leads and customers. Take advantage of this by following strong messaging with clear calls to action (CTAs) that stand out in mobile view, when users are increasingly likely to convert.
To do so, go through each page of your site and note where calls to action can be added, such as your homepage and blog posts. Then, add bold CTAs that stretch to the full width of tablets and smartphones.
Design acts as a bridge between your business and your target customers. Instead of allowing your message to get jumbled in a messy mobile site, use responsive web design to enhance the message your team has crafted. To learn more about design’s role in marketing, check out our past blog, “Design: a Key Component of Strong Brands”.
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