Responsive design is the latest buzz in the website development community. What is it and should your website employ it? This is a good question, and one that bears some consideration.What is Responsive Design?Responsive design is one site that changes the appearance based on the size of the viewing device. Unlike a stand-alone mobile site, which is separate from the full site, a responsive designed website is one site with one set of code that changes the orientation and layout based on the viewing device for a PC, tablet or smart-phone.What is a Stand-Alone Mobile Site?A stand-alone mobile site is a separate website tailored to mobile devices. Stand-alone websites have their advantages in that designs are not image heavy, usually small in size and placed sparingly to reduce bandwidth needed for delivery to mobile devices. Content can be tailored to meet a mobile users needs, thereby reducing design and production time.Which is Right for Your Website?When deciding between responsive design and a stand-alone mobile site, take into consideration what information your average user expects from your website. If your typical user is going to be accessing the site from a mobile phone, consider the information that they are receiving in that environment. If your goal is to provide key information that will entice your user to access your full website, or direct the user to take action, such as calling to make an appointment or get directions to your office, then a stand-alone website may work well and fit within your budget.A common misconception of a stand-alone mobile site is that content needs to be duplicated to the stand-alone pages, actually this is not necessarily true. If your site is using a CMS platform, content can be carried over dynamically from the full site, automatically populating the same content into your mobile friendly pages without the duplication of effort. Support Unlimited can recommend the best mobile solution for your specific needs and goals. To learn more about what we can do for your mobile preference, email us or contact us today at 612.333.1994.About Support Unlimited, Inc. Founded in 1997, Support Unlimited is a Minneapolis based website development company. From start to finish we will guide you through the website design process, helping you create a web presence that fits your company. Our website design process centralizes its focus on developing strong relationships with our clients by getting to know and understand the unique aspects of each business to design and implement a web presence that leads to business growth.
