In part one of Responsive Web Design, we looked at what this technology entails and now we’re going to look at what considerations one needs to make before choosing to use it. A site built with responsive design will automatically resize for different devices, but the priority of what content you want the mobile user to access is dependent on you. For example, a mobile user might need to quickly find your phone number or directions, whereas a tablet user might want a simpler way to make couch-surfing purchases. A site built using responsive design could prioritize click-to-call and click-to-map buttons, while the tablet site would focus on simplifying the shopping cart.

Considerations to make before choosing responsive design over a separate mobile website

What are your business needs? Below are some guidelines to help you decide whether to go for a responsive web design:

1. Are you designing for mobile user needs? Go for separate mobile site
2. Do you want an easy to update website? Go for responsive web
3. Do you want a Search Engine Optimized website? Both could be easily optimized but responsive design would respond better
4. Are you opting for a quick mobile site creation? Go for separate mobile site
5. Are you looking for an affordable website? Go for separate mobile site
6. Do you want a website you can easily add content and redirect codes? Go for responsive web
7. Do you want great DIY options? Go for separate mobile site

Creating a separate mobile site means having more than one URL for your website to direct mobile users to mobile site and desktop users to normal website. However, a well built website will automatically detect the device and redirect to the correct URL automatically. For those who choose to go for responsive design, the URL is the same as the website gets optimized for easy reading and navigation with a minimum of resizing, panning, and scrolling across a wide range of browsers.

Now you have a basic knowledge of what responsive web is and what to consider before asking your developer to design your website. I’ll be writing more articles on this technology and more on HTML5 and CSS3, the emerging technologies in web development.

Source: Google Analytics Blog