Everything you need to know about responsive website

What is a responsive website?

A responsive website is a website whose layout, graphics and content automatically adapt to the resolution and size of the screen on which it is displayed. This means that regardless of whether the user is using a smartphone, tablet, laptop or large monitor, the website remains legible, functional and easy to use.

Responsiveness eliminates the need to create several separate versions of the same website (e.g. mobile and desktop). Instead, a single, flexible template is designed that changes its layout using modern technologies such as CSS Grid, Flexbox, media queries and flexible units (%, em, rem).

A well-designed responsive website:

• automatically adjusts the width and layout of content to the user’s screen,
• scales photos and multimedia to maintain their quality and proportions,
• adjusts navigation and buttons to make them convenient for touch screens,
• improves user experience (UX) and has a positive impact on SEO.

Responsive design is now standard, not optional. In the mobile-first era, where up to 70-80% of traffic can come from mobile devices, the lack of RWD means not only a poorer user experience, but also lower rankings by search engines such as Google.

Why is RWD important?

Responsive website design is crucial today, both from the perspective of users and search engine algorithms. Since 2021, Google has been using a mobile-first indexing model, which means that the mobile version of a website is the main basis for assessing its quality and position in search results. Websites that are not responsive or have a poorly optimised mobile version may lose visibility on Google, which directly affects the number of visits and the effectiveness of marketing activities. From a UX (User Experience) perspective, responsive design ensures a consistent and convenient user experience on any device.

Intuitive navigation, appropriate font sizes, clear CTAs and fast-loading content translate directly into a lower bounce rate, longer time spent on the website and a greater chance of achieving business goals – registration, contact, purchase.

When it comes to conversions, RWD has a direct impact: a user who has to zoom in on text or gets lost in navigation that is illegible on a smartphone will simply leave the site. A well-designed, responsive interface increases the likelihood of completing a purchase, registration or form filling.

Finally, responsiveness is now an industry standard and user expectation – not only in e-commerce, but also in services, media, education and administration. Designing in accordance with RWD principles is therefore not an add-on, but the basis for building a modern, effective and visible website.

10 best practices for responsive websites

Check out how to make a good responsive website based on 10 important principles.

1. Flexibilty: 

The first principle about flexibility is about and application:CSS Flexbox and Grid – CSS tools allow you to easily create flexible page layouts. Another thing you should implement is Media Queries, whichallow you to change styles according to screen resolution, for example. @media (max-width: 768px) { … }. The last thing is progressive scaling: Design layouts that smoothly change between different boundary points (breakpoints), without sudden jumps.

2 Scalable SVG vector graphics:

Scalable SVG vector graphics are much better suited for creating responsive CSS and HTML pages than standard raster graphics. SVG files automatically change their resolution, so they remain readable regardless of size.

3 Responsive images:

Responsive images are key to ensuring that a page displays properly on different devices. They adapt their size to the space they are in, thanks to techniques such as max-width: 100% or the srcset attribute. Modern formats, such as WebP, allow better compression while maintaining quality, which speeds up loading. It’s also important to crop images to the right proportions – square or vertical graphics work better on mobile devices. It’s a good idea to implement lazy loading, to load images only when the user sees them. This makes the images more efficient and affects a better user experience.

4. Operation on 3 basic devices:

The website must be fully functional and aesthetically pleasing on the three basic types of devices: desktop/laptop computers, tablets and smartphones. It is also crucial to take into account horizontal and vertical orientation on mobile devices and test on actual hardware in different browsers

Looking for a trusted web development company?

Contact us!

5. Card interfaces:

Card interfaces should be designed to be modular, allowing their contents to be easily copied, moved and modified. Best practices include the use of clear boundaries between tabs, visual hierarchy (e.g., through headers and appropriate spacing), and adapting the layout to different screen resolutions. Tools such as UXPin can support the process of creating such interfaces, simplifying the work of responsive design

6. Less content:

The principle of “less content” does not mean removing everything, but focusing on what is most important and necessary to improve the user experience (UX) and effectiveness of the site on different devices.

7. Content Prioritization:

On a small screen, the user will not see all the elements available on a large monitor. Therefore, you need to determine which content is most important and which can be hidden. The key information should be at the top of the page or in a prominent place so that it is easily accessible without scrolling. Content prioritization is worthwhile based on user behavior analysis, such as Google Analytics data or heatmaps.

8 Focus on mobile devices:

Designing a responsive website is a good idea to start with the smallest (i.e. most demanding) screen sizes. The mobile-first design approach involves first creating a version of the site optimized for mobile devices, and then expanding it with additional features and elements for larger screens. This makes the site lightweight, fast and tailored to mobile users, who often make up the majority of the audience.

9. Large clickable area: 

Buttons must have a surface area such that they can be pressed comfortably, including on the phone screen. The minimum size of a button should be at least 48×48 pixels, according to Google’s guidelines, to ensure user comfort. It is also important to maintain adequate spacing between interactive elements to avoid accidental clicks.

10. Competition study:

It is useful in any industry. It’s worth checking out how the market leaders are approaching responsive website design.

Check out what else you should know about RWD web design and web usability.

Mobile site vs. RWD site

These terms are often confused with each other. What they have in common is that both sites display correctly on mobile devices. However, it is worth knowing that a mobile site is only for smartphones or tablets (it has a different URL than a site for computers). A RWD site has a single address and adapts to the device on which it is displayed.

Examples of responsive websites

Check out examples of 4 well-designed responsive websites

Shopify – some options on the site are hidden when using it on a mobile device. This improves readability. In addition, the menu has been divided into separate groups, forming “two cognitive areas.”

Slack – an interesting approach to CTA buttons catches the eye. In the mobile and tablet view, two of them have been replaced by one large one – it takes up almost the entire width of the screen.

Starbucks – the responsive site stands out primarily because of its simple, static design, which is nevertheless eye-catching (mainly due to well-chosen colors).

Etsy – an e-commerce site that adapts its layout brilliantly on different devices. On smaller screens, the side menu is replaced by a drop-down navigation bar, and product images are centrally displayed for easy browsing. Large CTA buttons, such as “Add to Cart,” are clearly visible and easy to click.

Responsive website – this is worth knowing

A responsive website is not only standard today, but also the foundation of an effective online presence. For users, this means convenience – whether they are browsing the site on their phone on their way to work, on their tablet at home, or on a large monitor in the office, they always have access to the same content in an optimal form. For website owners, RWD means a better chance of keeping the audience’s attention and encouraging them to take action. Websites adapted to different screens not only convert better, but also load faster, which positively affects the quality rating of the website in the eyes of Google and other search engines. Today’s algorithms analyse websites primarily in the context of mobile devices – if a website is not prepared for them, its visibility and sales potential decrease. In practice, this means that without a responsive website, you can lose up to half of your audience before you even get to present your offer to them.

FAQ – Frequently Asked Questions

How to check if a website is responsive?

To check if your site is responsive, use the developer tools available in browsers (e.g. Google Chrome DevTools). Enable responsive mode, which allows you to simulate different devices and screen resolutions. Additionally, test the site on physical devices such as smartphones, tablets and laptops. You can also use online tools such as responsinator.com or Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test to assess the responsiveness of the site.

How to make a website responsive?

Use techniques such as flexible grids (flexbox, grid), flexible images and media queries to make the site responsive. Use relative units (percentages, em, rem) instead of fixed pixels. This will ensure that the site adapts to different screen resolutions, from phones to desktop monitors. It is also crucial to test the site on different devices and browsers to ensure consistency in design and functionality.

What is responsiveness?

Responsiveness of a website is its ability to automatically adapt to different resolutions and screen sizes, providing an optimal user experience on any device. This is achieved through responsive layouts that rearrange and resize elements according to the size of the browser window. Key elements of responsiveness include flexible grids, media queries, and flexible images and multimedia. This ensures that the site remains readable and functional on smartphones, tablets and large monitors alike

Does a responsive website improve Google rankings?

Yes, responsiveness has a direct impact on SEO. Google has been favouring mobile-friendly websites for years, and mobile-first indexing has been in effect since 2021. Lack of responsiveness can reduce a website’s visibility in search results because algorithms treat it as less mobile-friendly.

Can any website be made responsive?

In most cases, yes, but sometimes it is more cost-effective to design a new website from scratch. Old websites, built without responsiveness in mind, may require a complete overhaul, both in terms of graphics and technical aspects, to meet current RWD and UX standards.