Ever heard of the term "responsive web design"?

If not, that's ok. This is actually a new trend that is taking off within the web industry and it should definitely be something that you need to keep your pulse on.

Being a web dev geek, I always try and stay in the know about the latest web design trends.

In this post I'm going to touch on the basics of what responsive web design is as well as what benefits it will bring to your website accessibility and SEO factors.

What is Responsive Web Design?

This term refers to building your site to cater for the plethora of different devices that are out there on the market. As you probably know mobile devices are only getting more and more popular by the day.

Personally, when I check my analytics on some of my sites, I can see that mobile traffic is increasing across the board.

It's because of this that having a responsive design will be of high benefit to you in the not too distant future.

With a responsive design, your websites layout will adjust to the dimensions of the device that is being used (e.g. iPhone, iPad, Samsung Galaxy, etc).

But Google doesn't care about this, why should I?

Think again...

Check out this post on the official Google Webmaster blog.

In case you missed it, here is the example of how exactly a responsive website works:

http://www.google.com/intl/en/chrome/devices/features.html

Does this mean I need to create my site to be responsive?

Ultimately it's up to you. If you're just starting out then perhaps don't focus on this too much and instead get more familiar with the fundamentals of online marketing. That being said, it should be something to keep on the back of you mind.

You need to realise the more accessible you make a website, the better the user experience will be, which in turn means more traffic (as bounce rate and page speed are part of Google's ranking algorithm) and ultimately more sales.

Responsive web design is still in it's infancy, but it's safe to safe more and more sites will begin to incorporate this technology to improve on their user's experience and increase their overall conversions.

Providing value to your visitors is key to your online business success, how your website looks and works as well as the quality content will get you going in the right direction.

Thanks for taking the time to read this post, as usual, feel free to share your thoughts in the comments area below.

Ride the wave :)

Leo