Do I Need a Responsive Web Design for My Small Business?

If you’re a small business owner, you may be asking yourself, “What the heck is responsive web design?”

Good question.

Responsive web design or RWD, as it’s referred to, is web design that provides users with the optimal viewing experience on a mobile device, like a smartphone, or desktop. This means your website is easy to read and navigate and has a pleasing color scheme. Visitors to your small business’s website have a good experience, which makes them stay longer on your site.

If you have a website, you may be worried about your site’s SEO rankings. Furthermore, you may ask yourself, “Will a responsive web design hurt my SEO rankings?” Check out the video below from Matt Cutts of Google. It will ease your fears.

Responsive Web Design and SEO Rankings

The bottom line is that your website must be user friendly and easy to navigate. It shouldn’t matter if visitors come to your website via an iPhone or laptop.

If you’re worried that your website won’t view well on a mobile device, you could have your web designer (or hire one) create a mobile version of your website.

Keep in mind that you should focus on providing the best user experience you can. Why? Because if you focus solely on SEO rankings you could lose web traffic. How? By writing for web crawlers instead of readers. Remember, web crawlers do not purchase products and services, but clients and customers do.

Now…

What happens if your small business doesn’t have a website? The first step is to watch this video I created on why you need a website. The second step is to check out the following:

• WordPress.org
• Weebly.com
• Wix.com

I prefer and use WordPress.org, but I’ve used Weebly in the past and created a landing page using Wix because I wanted to see how my landing page would look. Weebly and Wix use the drag n’ drop feature. You choose a template and customize it by dragging and dropping features such as side bars, header, etc.

The main reason why I prefer WordPress.org is because it’s a content management system. It’s easy to use, too. You can use a free WordPress template, but I prefer purchasing templates from sites such as StudioPress, WooThemes, and others.

Final Thoughts on Website Design and Development

You’ll need to find a web designer. Check out the following design firms:

• Orbit Media Studios
• Gizmo-Design
• 4thWeb Digital Agency

Of course, you could always hire a high school kid or contact your local community college and ask if the students in the web design program work with small business owners. It’s a win-win situation… You need a website and they need experience and a portfolio piece.

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