Responsive web design is irrefutably important. As we enter a future of ever increasingly diverse Browsing methods, knowing that your site can handle them all is set to become a hallmark of the well-made website, and without it you’ll be neglecting vast chunks of your audience or customers. With all the new tech released last year, and the new gadgets sure to come out later this year, as a website designer, it pays to keep abreast.

Responsive web design is a term that’s bandied about frequently in web designer and search engine optimisation circles. When it comes to the future of browsing, and user interaction, responsive web design is crucial. It essentially refers to the website being responsive to the device employed by the user, whether that be a desktop, mobile, tablet, or even, in the future, virtual reality! Responsive web design essentially guarantees that your site looks fantastic, no matter what the viewing platform is.

As a business website, you need good quality responsive web design. With more and more people doing their browsing and online shopping on devices other than desktop computers, neglecting huge chunks of potential customers by not providing a site that is easy to use and access on a variety of devices would be a crazy faux pas. You want to make things as easy as possible for the customer, and you definitely want to avoid people having do to annoying rescaling and zooming while on your site. Frequently on poorly optimised websites you can find yourself struggling to navigate properly, due to the fact that the site is designed to be used on a desktop. Responsive web design helps avoid that.

The value of responsive design to a web user is pretty obvious, you get a smooth, enjoyable browsing experience. You can easily see, read and explore the content on a page, and navigate easily.  Interestingly, this is why it’s also so important to Google, and other big search engines.

They ideally want to provide the smoothest and best browsing experience, so any websites that utilise thorough responsive design, including quick loading pages, will get a ranking boost. They want to present a stellar page one, filled with rich snippets, chunks of helpful info, closely matched search results, and reputable, current websites that can be accessed and used through any device. As an SEO expert, responsive web design should be of crucial importance.

One of the biggest considerations within responsive web design is new technology that will be coming to the fore in 2017. Namely, this is virtual reality. Virtual reality could be well set to replace monitors, as well as functioning as a portable gaming, film viewing, and now browsing device.

Obviously Google, and the other big search engines will be looking to incorporate VR browsing into their algorithms, so being prepared and open to developments within VR browsing is going to be a key rule of thumb through 2017. Imagine being at a point where eye tracking and blinking can replace the mouse, and the virtual reality headset could replace the monitor, all with integrated voice recognition software to make keyboards obsolete, website design companies are going to need to take all this into account. Browsing could be set for some very futuristic changes this year, and responsive web design needs to take this into account.

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