Displaying items by tag: web responsiveness

Tuesday, 14 January 2014 10:31

The ABCs of a Great Responsive Site

The ABCs of a Great Responsive Site Part IV of our Responsive Web Design series focuses on the basics of RWD, how it is done, and the criteria or characteristics of a good RWD. 

It is not only the site’s web designer and developer that should be aware on how a web responsive site is made. As the owner of the site, one has the responsibility to at least know the concept behind it and how it is done. Since a business owner shouldn't be ignorant of their own website.

Three Building Blocks of RWD

Here are the three things that every businessman should familiarize themselves with when it comes to web responsiveness:

  • Start small. Like in any business, it is a lot easier to work small than work big. By doing this, the tweaking that needs to be done is minimal preventing unnecessary large scale changes as the design grows.

  • Minimum content but maximum impact. The soul of the site is its content. But one should be mindful of the different screen sizes that the site is likely to be accessed. So be sure to create a content that will leave a right and long lasting impression on people no matter what the size is.

  • Play with HTML and CCS. But it doesn't mean one has to be a pro at it. Just familiarize one about the basic things on what makes a site be responsive in terms of coding.

This is to provide a better understanding of what the site needs and demands in terms of its design, layout, and content. A well-informed businessman leads to success.

Criteria of a Good Responsive Design

To know if the site successfully achieved a responsive design, go and check to see if it the quality of the experience is the same in any given gadget and screen sizes. The branding consistency is there, meaning that it is able to truly reflect, mirror what the site stands for. Making people see, feel, and say, “Now this is the company that I know.” They can sense the familiarity of the brand site no matter what the screen size is. To add more attention to the site, remember that there should always be a call to action on the page.

Meanwhile, on the more technical side of web responsiveness, be sure to look into the site’s white spaces and padding. That in whatever size they may be, the site’s content from the text to images is aligned properly and follows proper information hierarchy. Making sure that it’s readable and not too crowded, retaining the site’s integrity and credibility.

Through this one is able to present the site’s content and information in the best visual way possible on different screen sizes.

Consistency of the design and feel is one of the many advantages of a responsive web design. This leads to better branding and on-line presence. That is why this design is not a fad and is here to stay. It is highly recommended for businesses to have their site adaptable and flexible.

The Northern Office-Innovative Marketing offers its services to those who are in need of better SEO standing, web design, and on-line branding. For more details they can be emailed at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or contact them at +63 45 499 1082.

Thursday, 02 January 2014 16:51

The Myths and Misconceptions on RWD

The Myths and Misconceptions on RWD

Part III of the blog series takes us into the myths and misconceptions that have been acquired throughout the years by web responsiveness.

RWD (Responsive Web Design) is highly recommended by Google as a site configuration. This is important to take note and remember since Google has a market share of 67% when it comes to searches. With this design, Google is able to easily crawl and index a website. It increases the website to rank higher in terms of page rank and page authority because it is able to accumulate the data into one url. Also, it lessens the amount of time to get used to on the site when visiting it on mobile.

Myths and Misconceptions

Like any new idea or concept, there are a lot of things that are yet to be explored and understand with RWD. This resulted into the creations of myths and misconceptions (M&M).

M&M 1: It is not the solution to the website’s content problems. Just because the site had a great design overhaul and is able to adapt to different screen sizes, that doesn't mean that the site’s lack of content is answered. Now more than ever, the site needs to have better content and call to actions words. As site owners, one would like to give its visitors a reason to stay longer.

M&M 2: It is not just for big Brands, companies, and names. It is for everyone that includes small and medium businesses. Local business owners can gain a lot from having a responsive website. It is able to quickly provide the needed information such as contact and location with the use of handy gadgets. This makes the brand more accessible to people.

M&M 3: Dangerous to Typography. One of the things that are often sacrificed is the site’s readability. It’s because developers and designers have the tendency to use device breakpoints rather than design breakpoints. This doesn't have to be. To maintain the site’s readability use ems for the layout, padding, font-size, and margin.  

M&M 4: It makes mobile apps obsolete. Applications still carry an important spot in the mobile world. An app brings brand equity to a company who had a place on one’s digital device. As the owner or the marketing strategy, one has to look into the brand experience that should be provided into the company’s specific audiences. An app is good for frequent users while a responsive site is better for casual users.

M&M 5: It is not just about the design and layout. It is also about the content. Why is this idea being reiterated? It is because many concentrate more on how their site looks like than what their site should have. Remember that having a great site also means good site content.

One by one, these myths are busted with the development of web responsiveness. Each of these statements is mere excuses and reasons for a sloppy work from designers and developers. So before saying yes to a site developer and designer, be sure to have a talk with them about the site’s design and demand on having a great responsive site. With this in mind, one is sure to get the best website design that will be able to adapt to just about any screen sizes.

The Northern Office-Innovative Marketing has acquired vast knowledge when it comes to web developments. This resulted into great insights when it comes to the creation of responsive web design. To know more about web responsive design, we can be contacted at +63 45 499 1082 or be emailed at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

 


Posted by John Joe Morgan

 

Thursday, 26 December 2013 16:41

The Good and the Bad of Responsive Web Design

The good and the bad of responsive web design

Whether it be reality or virtually, pros and cons has been present. With this in mind, part II of TNO’s blog series goes into the advantage and disadvantages of having a web responsive design.   2013 saw the rise of the tablet pc, android, and smartphone market. This resulted into an increase in demand for websites to have a responsive web design. Meaning a website should follow the idea of “one size fits all,” or in this case screen sizes. But what does it offer to site owners? Let’s take a look.

The Good Side RWD

1. Easy Tracking. RWD makes the task of tracing the site traffic easy; especially with the site connected to a Google Analytics account. Analytics is able to dissect the traffic information it received from different browsers and mobile devices.

2. Cost Effective & Low Maintenance. Using a flexible code, the need to have a different content is not needed with RWD. The Cascading Style Sheet (CCS) Code enables for the site content to adjust to the screen size accordingly. Effectively lowering the expenses since building a new site is unnecessary. It also doesn’t require checking two different websites.

3. Future Ready. There is no need to worry about new devices that are likely to be introduced in the market. The site can adapt to the device’s screen.

4. Better User Experience. Users are able to experience a consistent look and feel on the site whether they are browsing the site on a tablet, desktop, android, and smartphone.

5. Good SEO. Having a duplicate content is not a problem with a responsive design since your url is okay for all kind of gadgets. It prevents the site from receiving penalties from Google such as the ever lovable Panda. This web design has a great online marketing gift to companies, small businesses, and organizations that is brand reliability. It gives consumers the assurance that what they’ve visited is of high quality, dependable, and trustworthy. But just like any technological advancement, there is a downside to it.

The Bad Side of RW

1. Design. The graphic designer has to design several layouts through the use of wire frames.

2. Development. Converting an existing site into a responsive one is harder compared to creating one.

3. Implementation. The RWD practice is relatively new so there are problems that developers and designers are still unfamiliar with.

4. Resources.  There are little available resources and support that can provide answers to problems that may arise with RWD since it’s still in the process of having a solid foundation of knowledge.

5. Loading Time. This is the downside of a mobile responsive site. The site takes a longer time to load due the html/ccs codes that needs to be downloaded. With all of these disadvantages in mind, one could simply say that making sure that a site is responsive is time consuming. A lot of working hours is needed in assuring that the site is working.

A lot of tests and monitoring on different platforms are done to see if the site looks exactly the way users should see. It may be time consuming but the benefits to both party, the consumers and the company or brand or organization is great. But what do you think about it? Are the advantages outweighs the disadvantages?

Web Responsiveness is time consuming but it has a lot to offer to site owners and its site visitors if done properly.

To interested parties, who want to know more about web responsive design, The Northern Office-Innovative Marketing can be contacted at +63 45 499 1082 or email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..