According to Google, "If you haven't made your website mobile-friendly, you should. The majority of users coming to your site are likely to be using a mobile device". On the same topic, Google also states that "Responsive design is Google's recommended design pattern". The responsiveness of your website is an equally important factor when it comes to your user experience and customer satisfaction. Website responsiveness also plays an important role if you want to avoid common SEO mistakes that poorly reflect on your website ranking causing a downgrade. Even though it is definitely not a confirmed ranking factor for Google, the world's biggest search engine has shed light on this matter on multiple occasions.

There are multiple steps that you can follow to improve the responsiveness of your website which will give you tons of benefits. But before moving forward, let’s discuss what exactly website responsiveness is.

What does it mean by website responsiveness?

Responsive Web Design is also known as RWD and is about creating web pages that can be accessed across different screen sizes and devices. When web designers craft websites, they craft them this way so that people can have the experience despite not using any particular device, according to their convenience. Making the website in such a way that even mobile users can navigate through it makes a big difference since globally, nearly half of all web traffic is accounted for by mobile traffic. So it is important to create a website that is accessible and easily navigated even on a very small screen such as a tablet or a smartphone.

Now that you know what a responsive website is, it is time to discover its benefits.

Why do you need a responsive website: Its benefits?

When you are doing business online, it is important to give your users a great experience regardless of what device they are navigating your website on. Here are some of the biggest benefits you will get once you prioritize responsiveness in your website design.

1. Google emphasizes Mobile friendliness

In recent years, the world's biggest search engine Google has taken a "Mobile-first" approach with the increasing number of mobile users. Comparatively more people now use smartphones or mobile phones than using a desktop or a laptop, which means more people are searching from their mobile devices now. So, it has also become extremely important for websites to be rendered easily and smoothly on any device, including mobile phones.

As Google aims to provide accessible, valuable, and quality content to its users, the algorithm is more likely to rank a site higher which fits the bill. So when a website is user-friendly and accessible it gets a better chance to be ranked higher on the search engine results, increasing its visibility and popularity on the internet.

2. Upgraded usability

The time that users spend on the web page indicates whether the content you are providing is matching with the content the users are searching for. This is called Time on Page and it also indicates whether the users have had a positive experience visiting your website if a user is unsatisfied with the content or how the website works, they are unlikely to stay. When you build a responsive website, it makes it more accessible, faster, and easily navigated. So it makes it faster for the users to find what they are looking for, increasing usability.

3. Improved user experience

Responsive website building is a customer-centric approach that is highly likely to be rewarded by Google as it focuses on keeping users happy and satisfied by showing them exactly what they are searching for. So when you are offering them a responsive website, they are more likely to return to the website and then turn into loyal paying customers.

4. Better page speed

The page speed of any website is another factor that impacts the page's SEO and its rank on the search engine results. A page's speed is about how quickly the website loads and that can be a make-or-break deal with the visitor. So it is no surprise that to increase user experience, a website should be optimized to load quickly without any breakage or hiccups. The mobile responsive websites are made in such a way that it loads quickly on not particularly mobiles or desktops but on all devices. Optimizing a responsive website can also be a great idea to attract more web traffic which will lead to conversions on the website.

5. Avoiding duplicate content

When web designers build a responsive website, it becomes a necessity to pay attention to the website's UX and content, overall. Even though responsiveness on a website is no way a guarantee to prevent duplicate content, it can surely help the owners to catch this common mistake. While building responsive websites, it is easier to emphasize creating a single and mobile-friendly website which can help prevent URL duplication which is usually the two versions of the same website.

6. Low bounce rate

Another benefit of having a responsive website is the lower amount of bounce rate. It refers to how quickly visitors load the website and then just immediately leave. When a website typically has a high bounce rate, it indicates either your website did not load quickly, or the users did not have a pleasant customer experience. Most of the time, the reason behind a high bounce rate is not always the content. Maybe your website has the content the visitors are searching for, but because the website is poorly crafted and is not mobile-friendly which is why they had to leave immediately. Your content may be fantastic, but it is your poorly designed website that makes the user leave.

7. Additional shares on social media

The number one point of having an efficiently designed website is that when people like the content, they tend to share it with friends and other users. Even though the social shares do not impact the website ranking, it surely helps you grow your audience online, increasing web traffic and eventually your sales. This is why many RWD designers are now building responsive websites with already built capacity for social sharing.

With all these benefits lying around, it is time to offer your users a friendly mobile experience and see the growth in your online business.