How is your website doing… on iPhones, Tablets, and all of the other “new” formats? Do you enjoy pinching, zooming, and using a microscope in order to see the site? With over 10% of the pages viewed on the small screen, it behooves both marketers and developers to think about their websites in a completely new – and old – way: it has to be usable. If it isn’t usable, people will abandon the effort. They will leave frustrated, and it will reflect on your brand.
There are three major ways to address this: Create an App, Create a second mobile-only version of the website, or use Responsive Design.
Coined by Ethan Marcotte, Responsive Design speaks to a design that can change – be responsive – depending on the platform that it is being displayed on. Responsive Design means thinking about design and development differently. Every information section or web element is inserted in such a way that if you resize the browser width, you will still be able to see every piece of information.
Responsive design is supported in Internet Explorer 9+, Firefox 3.5+, Safari 3+ , Opera 7+, as well as on most modern smartphones and tablets. If your target audience still uses older browsers, you will need to be careful.
Mobile and Tablet web browsing is set to overtake desktop use in the next number of years. Is your website ready for the shift? And if you are redeveloping your site, does it use Responsive Design?
Note: We will be launching our website in Fall 2013 and it is going to be responsive. Here’s a “sneak” peek…
If you would like to be the first one to know when our new responsive website is launched, please let us know and we would notify you:
Ashish Malik is Partner, Client Services at 108 ideaspace inc., a firm that works in Web/Social Media/Marketing Automation strategy and implementation. A Certified Consultant, Ashish has helped several clients automate their sales and marketing as well as grow their business by implementing CRM. For more on Ashish Malik or 108 ideaspace, visit www.108ideaspace.com.