Peppergraphics Website Design and Search Engine Optimization, Chapel Hill, NC
Russian Nesting Dolls and Responsive
Web Design
Progressively smaller, or larger if you prefer, these dolls are identical but not identical. They are clearly a family, the same family, but the design is slightly different for the size of each doll. A website that naturally scales for various devices is just like this. It works as naturally and simply as this.
Your Desktop is Now Just Another "Device" like a Tablet, but Bigger
Can you remember, back before the computer was the main item on our workdesks, and sending an "email" was a new thing you weren't quite sure about? It wasn't that long ago.
I thought about that today as I was listening to a webinar about "responsive web design." That term means to design your internet communication to respond to any size or shape device the human is using to see or read it.
Read more: Your Desktop is Now Just Another "Device" like a Tablet, but Bigger
2013 The Year of the Tablet - Steve Jobs Changed History More Than We Thought
The tablet was invented - Steve's early idea. iPads were born three years ago in early 2010 and became very popular. Now everyone has invented a tablet, not to be overtaken by Apple and what looked like a one company goldrush. This type of device has turned into a game-changing way of life. We all wanted them, they made them, we bought them in outrageous numbers last month, and there you have it. The world flipped from phone to tablet at the end of last year. Happy 2013 to everyone! We are now in a very new future.
Read more: 2013 The Year of the Tablet - Steve Jobs Changed History More Than We Thought
Worried About Making Your Website Responsive (for Tablets & Phones)?
Here are a few simple steps to guide your thinking about this recent switch to tablets and phones. Do you need to change your website? What do you do first?
If you have attached Google Analytics to your website, then go to your analytics results and check about devices. Select Audiences > Select Mobile > Select Devices. You can see how many visitors are coming to you from a device such as a phone or tablet. If you don't have Google analytics set up, then that would be your first step. Go to Google.com and add analytics first.
Read more: Worried About Making Your Website Responsive (for Tablets & Phones)?
80% of Smartphone Users Check Email on their Device? What do they do then?
What do your clients do? Based on the new statistics, everything changed last year. Now phones and tablets rule! And if your message doesn't show well on that device, its gone!
The image to the left is about the size you would see on a smartphone screen. That's it. When your customers open up that email, if they don't see your message easily, quickly, and big enough, they delete it . . . unless they really love you.
Only about 35% of emails are saved for double viewing later on a desktop. You are wasting your email money if you are not playing by the new rules.
Read more: 80% of Smartphone Users Check Email on their Device? What do they do then?
Have You Seen Your Website on a Tablet? Can Your Clients Use it?
Most business websites have been planned for viewing on a desktop or laptop browser. We often put a great deal of care into doing this. But, as of the end of 2012, do you really know how many of your potential clients see your site that way?
Read more: Have You Seen Your Website on a Tablet? Can Your Clients Use it?