Best Practices in Responsive Web Design

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Did you know there are over 6.4 billion smartphone users in the world in 2021? Nowadays, more people prefer to browse the internet through their smartphones as it is more convenient. Mobile devices create 54.8% of the global web traffic. As such, you can’t do with a static website design that looks good only on the computer. Responsive websites that adapt to all screen sizes and resolutions are the need of the hour.

There are some best practices in responsive web design Langley you should follow to ensure your websites offer a top-notch user experience across all devices.

Use the right font size

During the web design process, ensure that you balance the headers and paragraph text. Large headers do not look good on mobile screens, especially if they stretch over a few lines.

Modern smartphones have high-resolution screens that make it easier to read text. So, if you want you can go with smaller font sizes on mobile screens and increase the size on larger displays.

Optimize lines of text

Longer lines of text are hard to read because they are more difficult to follow line-to-line. Ones that are too short are no good either because you need to move back and forth frequently.

When making a layout for larger screens, consider the line length of your content. It is recommended to keep a line length between 60 and 75 characters, setting your text areas to a 500 to 700-pixel width.

Use larger buttons on mobiles

Instead of smaller buttons, use large ones especially on mobiles as they are easier to tap. Large buttons and text links improve usability. For instance, you are reading through a news snippet and it says for more information “Read more.” You should either make the link large enough to tap easily or make the entire content block a link. In this way, it is easier for the users as they can click anywhere.

Implement a mobile-first approach

A mobile-first approach to responsive web design helps your designers evaluate the best approach to achieve their primary objective. You should focus primarily on the user experience first and then think about secondary objectives such as user flows and calls to action. For instance, if you are designing a mobile e-commerce site, consider using a one-page checkout. However, for desktop e-commerce sites it is okay to enable multi-step checkout. 

Put important information at the top

Place important information such as contact information, phone numbers, and calls to action at the top of the mobile. However, this approach works well for other devices as well. For instance, on an e-commerce product page, it is good to have a “Buy now” button at a place where it is visible to the users, without the need to scroll.

Optimize content for screen size

You should optimize the content depending on the screen size. For instance, for smartphones, you can simplify the layout by hiding content that would have otherwise been visible on larger screens. You can use tabs to show or hide content. On the other hand, wider screens offer more room to accommodate more content. It allows you to push more content further up the screen.

Responsive web design helps you create a seamless user experience across all platforms and devices. These best practices can help you create better websites for your users.