What is responsive web design?

Put simply: a responsive website design allows the website to adjust to best fit the screen it is viewed on. Web page content is usually wrapped in columns that sit side-by-side on larger screens and stack vertically on smaller screens. There can be any number of columns and rows, but essentially by designing and building a website on a grid it allows for a lot of layout fluidity. Text, images and other site elements are usually resized, hidden or otherwise adjusted to further optimise the user experience when viewing a responsive website.

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Why do I need a responsive website?

Over the last 5 years mobile web browsing has exploded and continues to grow rapidly as smartphone and tablet browser technology constantly improves and mobile data becomes more accessible and affordable around the world. Mobile and tablet browsing is poised to overtake traditional desktop and laptop browsing. Having a website that is designed only for one screen size is no longer sufficient. If visitors to your site have to pinch-and-zoom to click links or read content, they'll most likely get distracted or leave. You need to make your website as easy to use as possible on every device.

Future Proof Websites

Responsive web design isn’t new, businesses of all sizes have been hurriedly re-designing, re-building and updating their websites in recent years so that they don’t get left behind. A well-planned and executed responsive website or web app can eliminate the need for a separate smartphone or tablet application completely, reducing costs and levelling the playing field between smaller companies and blue chip’s. A responsive website is a future-proof website. Web users now expect a mobile-friendly site.

Project: Greenall's Gin

Results Driven

Analysis on my one of my client's old, non-mobile-friendly websites shows that the bounce rate – visitors who left a site shortly after entering it – sat at over 75% on average for users visiting the site on mobile devices. That's three quarters of their customer base who were leaving after viewing the home page for just a few seconds. With a responsive website, their bounce rate for mobile users has reduced to an average of 38%, which is well below the globally recognised bounce rate average of 50%. He's gaining customers and keeping them engaged.

Why should I choose you as my responsive website designer?

I've been designing print communication and branding concepts for clients for over 10 years, occasionally dipping my toes in to the choppy web design waters to build simple sites and create intuitive mockups for developers. Then, back in 2010 I read about responsive web design and how it could revolutionise not only the way user's view and browse the web, but also the way designers and developers built it. I embarked upon several courses with reputable providers such as Treehouse and Lynda, capitalising on the fact that established and traditional web designers were also going to need to re-learn their craft to stay relevant.

Since 2010 I've helped over 40 clients by designing and building responsive websites. I consider myself an expert on the subject, although I'm learning all the time as the practice continues to evolve. I can manage your web project and take you through each crucial part of the process, from wireframing and conceptualising through to building the site in development, reviewing in staging and finally pushing to production or 'live'. I test all sites thoroughly, not only on a range of web browsers, but also across a huge variety of smartphones, tablets, computer screens, televisions and even smart watches.

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