Responsive websites - what are they and what are their advantages and disadvantages
Posted: Wed Dec 04, 2024 9:04 am
If you have come across the term responsive design (or the abbreviation RWD ), and you have no idea what it means - I will try to explain it to you.
In today's world, responsive websites are still a novelty. Since the appearance of smartphones on the market, a large proportion of users use the Internet via phone. With this in mind, website creators are increasingly deciding to develop their mobile versions.
The term Responsive Web Design was first used in a 2010 article by Ethan Marcotte for alistapart.com .
RWD pages
RWD website and mobile version of the website
A responsive website adapts to mobile devices depending on the screen resolution, so it can be displayed on computers, tablets and smartphones. The mobile version of a website is designed exclusively for mobile devices.
We live in a time when people do not part with mobile devices. The era of shopping by phone is underway, so a RWD website is necessary for online stores. It is very convenient for users because having a store on your phone, you can do shopping without leaving home.
If you have your own website, consider whether it should not be redesigned to the RWD version. Unless you assume that users visit your website only via desktop computers and laptops. More and more people use mobile devices and new fashionable devices appear on the market and you should consider whether it is not worth investing in a responsive website.
What is RWD?
A responsive website ( RWD for short , from the English term Responsive web design) is a website that allows the resolution of the displayed www page to be adjusted to mobile devices. These pages are universal in nature, they can be easily displayed on both large screens and tablets and smartphones.
Due to the fact that the popularity of smartphones is growing dramatically, which allows for very wide access to the "mobile internet", website designers have a real challenge to ensure that pages are displayed properly on smaller screens.
Why RWD?
The site works properly on EVERY device.
It enables clear presentation of content and convenient use of the website.
It provides an attractive and modern layout adapted to user expectations.
How do I adjust the resolution of a web page?
The biggest problem for web designers is choosing the right font and image size for a given screen resolution. To adapt a design to the displays of popular mobile devices, it is necessary to know their resolution .
The table below shows popular recommended resolutions:
Device Recommended width (pixels)
Vertical telephone 320
Telephone horizontally 640
Tablet 768
PC monitor 1240
Monitor in FULL HD 1680/1920
Why RWD websites
Benefits of responsive websites
Readability and clarity on small smartphone or tablet displays.
Position in the Google search engine - this company was the first to notice the needs of mobile device users and decided to persuade the owners of company websites to introduce improvements. Google officially recommends this type of solution. Such a website is marked with a mobile uzbekistan b2b leads friendly badge , which is new. It is visible in the search results for the user who uses the search engine on a mobile device. This is a beneficial solution for the website owner, because it gains higher positioning and a greater number of users can reach this website. Responsive websites are certainly attractive and more legible.
RWD sites are cheaper to maintain because you pay for one version of the site. It is more cost-effective than maintaining two versions of the site: mobile and desktop.
Responsive websites have a common content management panel that allows you to publish and change content.
RWD is a flexible solution by adapting to different screen resolutions.
Another convenience is a single URL, because regardless of the device on which a given page is viewed, the URL remains the same.
You won't encounter the concept of duplicate-content here, which detects duplicate content in the browser.
There is no need to update page content from two different places since there is only one page of the website.
Responsive sites don't have the problem of having two separate tracking codes like mobile sites do because they share a common tracking code.
Disadvantages of responsive websites
Higher cost of creating a website with an individual graphic design - greater workload related to coding the website template, even in the case of using frameworks such as Bootstrap. Higher costs of a RWD website occur mainly at the stage of its creation, while its later maintenance costs the same as a standard www page.
Apparent compatibility and the need to test on different devices. The website should be tested on different mobile devices, which means you also need to have other devices.
The need to create more graphics and more work at the stage of creating content and updating the page. This only happens if we want to have full control over the images displayed in different resolutions. In such a case, we should sometimes prepare even several photos that will be displayed depending on the screen resolution. If we use the same photo in each resolution, it can be either proportionally resized or cut in the middle, which in some cases may not give a satisfactory effect.
How to test responsive websites?
Testing RWD pages is a very time-consuming process. Due to the increasing demand for responsive pages, tools have appeared on the market that allow for synchronous testing, which is a great convenience.
The most popular tools for testing RWD sites are:
Adobe Edge - this is a program that synchronizes the image on different devices
Ghostlab - allows you to connect any devices, e.g. computer, tablet, smartphone, as long as they are on the same network.
Google also places great importance on mobile sites. When searching for sites, Google takes into account whether the site is responsive. Responsive sites are displayed in higher positions than “non-mobile” sites. That is why Google has provided two tools:
Google Mobile friendly - meaning "mobile friendly", this is a tool used for websites that adapt to users using mobile devices.
Goodle PageSpeed - is a tool that analyzes the speed of loading desktop and mobile pages. It gives tips on what to do to make the page load faster on devices, because it will significantly affect user satisfaction.
In today's world, responsive websites are still a novelty. Since the appearance of smartphones on the market, a large proportion of users use the Internet via phone. With this in mind, website creators are increasingly deciding to develop their mobile versions.
The term Responsive Web Design was first used in a 2010 article by Ethan Marcotte for alistapart.com .
RWD pages
RWD website and mobile version of the website
A responsive website adapts to mobile devices depending on the screen resolution, so it can be displayed on computers, tablets and smartphones. The mobile version of a website is designed exclusively for mobile devices.
We live in a time when people do not part with mobile devices. The era of shopping by phone is underway, so a RWD website is necessary for online stores. It is very convenient for users because having a store on your phone, you can do shopping without leaving home.
If you have your own website, consider whether it should not be redesigned to the RWD version. Unless you assume that users visit your website only via desktop computers and laptops. More and more people use mobile devices and new fashionable devices appear on the market and you should consider whether it is not worth investing in a responsive website.
What is RWD?
A responsive website ( RWD for short , from the English term Responsive web design) is a website that allows the resolution of the displayed www page to be adjusted to mobile devices. These pages are universal in nature, they can be easily displayed on both large screens and tablets and smartphones.
Due to the fact that the popularity of smartphones is growing dramatically, which allows for very wide access to the "mobile internet", website designers have a real challenge to ensure that pages are displayed properly on smaller screens.
Why RWD?
The site works properly on EVERY device.
It enables clear presentation of content and convenient use of the website.
It provides an attractive and modern layout adapted to user expectations.
How do I adjust the resolution of a web page?
The biggest problem for web designers is choosing the right font and image size for a given screen resolution. To adapt a design to the displays of popular mobile devices, it is necessary to know their resolution .
The table below shows popular recommended resolutions:
Device Recommended width (pixels)
Vertical telephone 320
Telephone horizontally 640
Tablet 768
PC monitor 1240
Monitor in FULL HD 1680/1920
Why RWD websites
Benefits of responsive websites
Readability and clarity on small smartphone or tablet displays.
Position in the Google search engine - this company was the first to notice the needs of mobile device users and decided to persuade the owners of company websites to introduce improvements. Google officially recommends this type of solution. Such a website is marked with a mobile uzbekistan b2b leads friendly badge , which is new. It is visible in the search results for the user who uses the search engine on a mobile device. This is a beneficial solution for the website owner, because it gains higher positioning and a greater number of users can reach this website. Responsive websites are certainly attractive and more legible.
RWD sites are cheaper to maintain because you pay for one version of the site. It is more cost-effective than maintaining two versions of the site: mobile and desktop.
Responsive websites have a common content management panel that allows you to publish and change content.
RWD is a flexible solution by adapting to different screen resolutions.
Another convenience is a single URL, because regardless of the device on which a given page is viewed, the URL remains the same.
You won't encounter the concept of duplicate-content here, which detects duplicate content in the browser.
There is no need to update page content from two different places since there is only one page of the website.
Responsive sites don't have the problem of having two separate tracking codes like mobile sites do because they share a common tracking code.
Disadvantages of responsive websites
Higher cost of creating a website with an individual graphic design - greater workload related to coding the website template, even in the case of using frameworks such as Bootstrap. Higher costs of a RWD website occur mainly at the stage of its creation, while its later maintenance costs the same as a standard www page.
Apparent compatibility and the need to test on different devices. The website should be tested on different mobile devices, which means you also need to have other devices.
The need to create more graphics and more work at the stage of creating content and updating the page. This only happens if we want to have full control over the images displayed in different resolutions. In such a case, we should sometimes prepare even several photos that will be displayed depending on the screen resolution. If we use the same photo in each resolution, it can be either proportionally resized or cut in the middle, which in some cases may not give a satisfactory effect.
How to test responsive websites?
Testing RWD pages is a very time-consuming process. Due to the increasing demand for responsive pages, tools have appeared on the market that allow for synchronous testing, which is a great convenience.
The most popular tools for testing RWD sites are:
Adobe Edge - this is a program that synchronizes the image on different devices
Ghostlab - allows you to connect any devices, e.g. computer, tablet, smartphone, as long as they are on the same network.
Google also places great importance on mobile sites. When searching for sites, Google takes into account whether the site is responsive. Responsive sites are displayed in higher positions than “non-mobile” sites. That is why Google has provided two tools:
Google Mobile friendly - meaning "mobile friendly", this is a tool used for websites that adapt to users using mobile devices.
Goodle PageSpeed - is a tool that analyzes the speed of loading desktop and mobile pages. It gives tips on what to do to make the page load faster on devices, because it will significantly affect user satisfaction.