In today’s highly digital world, companies that want to remain competitive must make responsive web design an integral part of their search engine optimization (SEO) strategy. Responsive websites render seamlessly on all devices, irrespective of screen size. They are easy to navigate, giving users positive browsing experiences regardless of the device they use to browse the internet.
But, why should businesses care about responsiveness in web design?
Companies are constantly generating demand for their offerings. SEO tactics enable them to do this by helping them rank their content high on search engines. The aim is to make it easy for prospects who search the internet to find them.
People use different devices to browse the internet. A majority of them prefer to do so via mobile devices. Statistics show that 64% of organic searches come from mobile phones compared to 35% from desktops. Additionally, the number of keywords used in mobile searches is twice as much. This has a bearing on the effectiveness of a company’s SEO strategy.
It also determines how well demand generation strategies deliver desired marketing goals like improving brand awareness, visibility, lead nurturing, and conversion.
In this article, we explore the SEO benefits of building a responsive web design. But first, let’s understand what this form of web design entails and the current trends related to it.
Trends in Responsive Web Design
Responsive design involves improving website performance to ensure flawless rendering on all devices. Here are three elements that designers integrate in responsive websites:
- CSS techniques to improve image flexibility so they fit varying screen sizes
- Fluid grids to boost site adaptability to different screen sizes
- Media queries to define breakpoints and enhance screen transition
As businesses adopt mobile responsiveness and make it part of their overall marketing strategy, trends are beginning to form. Here are four key trends that are slowly shaping the design of responsive websites:
- Use of long, single scrolling pages
- Adoption of minimalist designs
- Use of hidden menus – users click menu icons to view site navigation
- Use of vector graphics to create designs
5 SEO Benefits of Responsive Web Design
A responsive website can support SEO efforts in many ways. Below are five web design advantages your company will enjoy:
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Search Engines Love Responsive Web Design
With so many people browsing the internet from mobile devices, search engines like Google have adopted a ‘mobile-first’ approach to search result ranking.
The goal is to provide users with valuable, highly accessible content. This means algorithms in the search engine are more inclined to finding and ranking responsive, user-friendly websites better.
There are several other reasons why Google favors responsive website design:
- Mobile responsiveness allows users to share content with a single URL
- Mobile-friendly websites don’t require directions to offer device-optimized displays
- Few errors affect responsive websites, which means low maintenance costs
- Search engine bots only crawl mobile-friendly sites once
- Responsive websites make it easier for the search engine to allocate indexing properties to web pages accurately
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Responsive Web Design Makes Your Website Customer-Centric
With your prospects having numerous options, creating a customer-centric website is critical. Statistics show that 42% of users quit websites as a result of poor functionality. If you don’t give users a pleasant browsing experience, they’ll shift to your competitor. This can undermine your efforts to create demand for your offerings significantly.
Creating a customer-centric website starts by understanding your target audience and the issues that push them away. Reviewing market research reports and listening to existing customers is a great way to understand the technical issues that affect your website’s performance.
For instance, studies show that people who browse from mobile devices are less patient – 53% of them leave web pages that don’t open within three seconds. They want to find what they want fast and seamlessly.
Responsive design allows you to create a customer-centric website. It eliminates issues that give customers negative browsing experiences. These issues include:
- Slow website loading speeds
- Poor site navigation
- Inconsistent design
- Redirecting users to mobile versions outside the site
If your website has these issues, you’ll experience high bounce rates and poor SEO ranking. Shifting to responsive website design can improve your website loading speeds, structure, and layout. This will give your visitors positive browsing experiences and keep them on your website longer.
IBM is a great example of a B2B company that has developed a customer centric website. The website loads fast and the company maintains a consistent design on all devices. It displays the same information on desktop and mobile devices as shown in the screenshots below:
Screenshots of IBM’s Responsive Web Design
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Mobile-Friendly Websites Have More Social Shares
Imagine a situation where your website has valuable content that visitors want to share, but they can’t find the share button. Or a desktop user shares the link with a mobile user, but your website is unresponsive? You miss an opportunity to expand your market, drive traffic to your site, and potentially lose revenue.
Although search engines don’t consider it in search rankings, social media remains a critical pillar in any company’s marketing strategy. Social media pushes traffic to websites and complements SEO efforts. But you need a responsive website to reap these benefits.
Responsive web design makes it easy for users to seamlessly share content on all social media platforms and from all devices. Its primary goal is to give users a consistent website look and experience on all devices.
A great way to boost social shares on your website is to work with a mobile app development company in Delhi to ensure responsive design techniques are applied on your website.
These techniques include:
- Strategic placement of share buttons on web pages
- Accessibility and functionality of the website on all devices
- Users access the same content on mobile and desktop devices
- Users can share content with a single click
Website visitors use social shares to promote your website and brand among their peers and followers. For companies that want to expand their audiences, this can mean more traffic and the opportunity to convert visitors into leads and customers.
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Responsive Websites Eliminate Duplicate Content
With more people choosing to browse the internet through mobile devices, companies have resorted to developing two website versions – mobile and non-mobile. This approach makes their content more accessible, but it increases the risk of duplicate content.
The presence of two URLs carrying duplicate content confuses search engine bots. They can’t:
- Tell which version to track and index
- Determine which version to rank for different search queries
- Determine whether to absorb link metrics for both versions or just one
Although duplicate content does not attract search engine penalties, it leads to poor ranking of websites on search results. Responsive web design eliminates the need for duplicate content. It allows you to use one URL on all devices and adapts website content and layout to different screen sizes.
By emphasizing a single website version and ensuring content consistency across all devices, mobile-friendly websites offer users positive browsing experiences.
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Mobile Responsiveness Improves Local SEO
Local SEO focuses on optimizing your site to show up in local search results. You need to invest in local SEO because people search the internet from mobile devices, particularly when they’re searching for local companies in their localities. Statistics show 61% of mobile device users are likely to reach out to local companies that have responsive websites.
Additionally, 75% of mobile searches that reflect local intent produce offline visits within a day. You can leverage this opportunity by adopting a mobile responsive design for your website. This, coupled with the integration of local keywords in your web content can push it up on local search results.
Opt for conversational, long-tail keywords and utilize search intent through the use of phrases such as ‘open now’ and ‘near me’. By applying these local SEO strategies, you make your company website more visible and accessible to customers who search for your products or services in your area.
Here are some tips to maximize local SEO benefits from a responsive website:
- Optimize your website for voice search
- Develop and optimize a Google Business Profile
- Request for customer reviews
- Research and optimize local keywords
- Create location pages
- Connect your content to local issues, news or events
Last Words
In a world where the majority of people would rather search the internet from mobile devices than desktop computers, having a mobile-friendly website is a necessity. Mobile responsiveness is among the key factors search engines consider when ranking search results.
Poor search engine ranking can make your website less visible online. It also undermines your efforts to improve brand awareness, attract and nurture leads, and boost conversion rates. Responsive web design helps in fixing these challenges.
By ensuring that your web pages load fast, eliminating duplicate content, and allowing users to share content with ease, responsive websites complement your SEO efforts. Create a mobile responsive website to unlock the SEO benefits discussed above.
