There are many reasons why responsive websites are becoming increasingly popular. Today, there is an increase in the number of web-enabled devices. This has increased the number of people accessing the internet through handheld devices such as Mobile Phone and Tablet PC. All these handheld devices have small displays. Websites that are originally designed keeping in mind desktop computers and laptops cannot be viewed clearly in the handheld devices with small displays. As a result, new types of websites have emerged today to help the internet users enjoy their browsing experience regardless of the nature of the devices they use. These websites are called responsive websites. A responsive website can automatically detect the device used by the user to access the web pages and change itself suitably to provide the optimum browsing experience.
While we should be happy that responsive web design is making our browsing experience enjoyable even when we are using devices that have small displays, we should not overlook some of the common mistakes that are being made in responsive web design.
Responsive web design is still in its infancy stage and mistakes are very likely to be present. We should pay attention to the recurring mistakes in the creation of responsive websites so that they can be totally avoided in the future designs and one such important mistake is discussed below.
One of the quick fixes that web designers use to make the websites suitable for mobile devices is to hide some of the content. This may solve the problem for the website designer but it is certainly not a prudent approach when it comes to making your website an effective tool for reaching your customers online. When you hide some of the content for the mobile users, you could possibly be depriving them of the most important information they need to know about your products or services. This can affect their buying decision and it can even reduce the conversion rates.
How to fix this problem? Rather than trying to trim the content for your mobile users, try to serve the content in multiple pages using “More” button. This way you can make sure that the interested users will still have access to all the information about your products or services. This approach will also save the user from unnecessary confusion. Your users should be able to find the same information regardless of whether they are accessing your website through mobile devices or through desktop computers. Keep this important factor in mind before you are designing a responsive website.
