With increasing usage of smartphones for accessing internet, it is very essential to create a website which runs flawlessly across multiple platforms. As the time has passed, Responsive Website development has attracted the entire web design industry and has become the central feature of modern web design. 2013 was the year when responsive web design as a concept got into highlight but still there is high volume of website not using this important concept.
Put simply, a responsive design means a website that reformats itself in such a manner that user can easily access it no matter what digital device is being used. A big advantage of having responsive design is that you don’t need to create the separate website version for mobile, only a single version will be sufficient.
Taking SEO element into consideration, can a responsive design increase chances for the website to gain success in the SERPs? Here is the answer:
Google Loves Responsive Websites
Google certainly seems to be impressed with the concept of RWD (Responsive Web Design). It has incorporated search features in most smartphones default functionality particularly the Android ones. So the search results displayed on mobile devices will credit those websites which are mobile friendly. The mass of mobile audience is unbelievably huge and it can be a real business booster when you have a responsive website ranking high in most popular search engine.
Just Need to have a Single website version
In some cases separate mobile website does have its own benefits. For instance if a website features a lot of content, then with responsive version user will end up giving their index finger more pain for navigating through content while a mobile website wins here where content of a website is more carefully redefined for mobile browsing and this can be more effective.
From the SEO perspective, separate mobile website struggle to gain the higher rankings in search engines since they are canonical to their desktop counterparts and more efforts will be required from scratch to build the authority. On the flip side, redesigning your existing website as responsive will enable you to keep your back links and have the same reputation as the traditional desktop version. You only need to manage and update content in single version which also means that you just need to perform SEO on single website. So the real big SEO benefit is that all your back links point to single domain thus increasing chances of achieving good ranking.
Additionally, if you have a responsive website you can also build social visibility for single domain only and when your social profiles start getting more popular, wherever your site is viewed whether on mobile, tablet or on desktop, all the web pages will be clear and easy to navigate (no more pinch and zoom).
Accommodate All Types of Users and Reduce the Bounce Rate
Although website has achieved pretty good ranking but if it failed to work effectively for mobile and tablet users, then bounce rate will be a serious issue. Mobile website can suffer from high bounce rate if the content offer by them is dissimilar from the desktop site and particularly when it is too stripped down. Website having high bounce rate indicate that website has failed to engage the visitors and thus gets lower rankings in SERPs.
A responsive website can reduce the issue of high bounce rate by presenting same content for all devices in the most adaptable format. A big advantage is that there is no need to compromise with content and since it’s visually perfect users are less likely to move on so easily.
Enhanced UX
A user-friendly website makes it easy for visitors to go through the content and other elements of website. Above all else, an advent of responsive design has certainly enhanced the user experience and UX a being a big ranking factor has encouraged web designers embrace RWD.
Responsive design has helped to address the requirement of modern users who are more used to easy, quick and engaging web features. Adopting RWD is the most effective way to increase the tablet and mobile traffic and to offer visitors the enhanced user experience.