Top 6 Myths Of Responsive Web Design

Closeup shot of laptop with digitaltablet and smartphone on desk. Responsive design web page on their screen. Modern devices on desk at office.

Don’t let it fool you.

Responsive Web Design (RWD) has become very popular.

Actually, less popular and more just widespread, we will say.

Most everyone has seen the value of having a website that renders well across all devices in 2016. Most people and businesses that have a website nowadays have done their research on effective responsive design implementations but what many do not realize is with the passing of time with increasing development in this area of design, many businesses have implemented Responsive Web Design in the past few years with the belief that all these “myths” were true.

Let’s see what these top six have proven to be—true or false.

6 Myths Exposed

Responsive Web Design is only for mobile.

Answer? FALSE. Responsive design has been used across all devices. However, its birth was connected to the burst of smartphones and mobile application needs. It’s purpose is not solely for mobile functionality, rather for elements to fit cleanly across devices. In reality, responsive web design is needed now more than ever for different desktop-sized renderings of websites and the surge of new tablets being released all of various sizes and styles. In addition, users have reached a point of using Responsive Web Design so constantly they now expect such a feature across all their devices — phone, tablet, laptop and desktop.

Responsive Web Design promises complete browser compatibility.

FALSE. The browser affects the compatibility not the responsive design itself. For example, many versions, especially older ones of Internet Explorer (IE) are not compatible with Responsive Web Design. Hence, even websites that implement a responsive layout will not render correctly if a user were to view it here. However, the up-to date browser versions on desktop and mobile applications should and have shown to render well websites that have implemented responsive design. Many tools are available for testing responsive design on your website. One of these is BrowserStack, a popular web based, live tool with a cross-browser testing environment.

Responsive Web Design costs more than other web design services.

FALSE. Understandably, this is a very common misconception. The process and project requirements are simply different, not necessarily more expensive. Responsive Web Design varies greatly in requirements and design needs compared to a non-responsive platform project. Improvements in cost-effective and quick strategies to develop and design responsively has helped large and small companies alike save resources on their Responsive Web Design projects.

Responsive Web Design is necessary for SEO.

TRUE. Responsive Web Design can and does affect your website’s SEO. Since much of Google rankings is still influenced by your website’s rankings traffic and user clicks, it would naturally make sense that a responsive website would increase the probability of this. In addition, a better user experience that adjusts to the needs of your site’s visitors is naturally more likely to be used that a website without these implementations/capabilities.

Responsive Web Design slows down your website speeds.

DEAD FALSE. Ok, just no! Actually responsive design is setup to only load the elements that are specifically designed and sized for that pages needs on that device. For example, a desktop would load a 2x version of a graphic image compared to loading it on a small phone screen. Development also sets restrictions for layout and content loading, that blocks unnecessary content and renders the layout only specific to that device’s screen dimensions and resolution. All of this actually speeds up load times!

Responsive Web Design is simply outdated.

DEAD FALSE. If anything, responsive design is more “in-date” than ever before. As we discussed before, almost all the internet, large and small companies alike are implementing responsive layouts for faster, cleaner farther-reaching results. We can see further proof with the comments from consumers who use responsive designed websites on a daily basis. As a result, for them it’s become a success requirement in selling products and services to them, much less getting them to return to your site!

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“That’s been one of my mantras — focus and simplicity. Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it’s worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains.”

– Steve Jobs

Article by Zipporah Schumaker

Tag Team Design

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