Ever since the onset of the smartphone revolution, responsive web design has been a buzz word, and with a constantly increasing share of mobile devices as an internet access medium, its significance has only grown with time. Having said that, anyone that hopes to bring organic search traffic cannot afford to ignore the search receptiveness of their website. To help you get the best of both worlds, i.e. performance and rankings, we list some responsive web design best practices that, believe it or not, are coming from none other than the undisputed leader in global web search – Google. Read on.
Use the Viewport Tag
In responsive websites, the server sends the same code to all devices, and then the CSS is used to alter and manage the rendering of the pages based on the access device being used. As a webmaster, you need to ensure that search bots are able to detect this setup automatically, by allowing them to crawl the site’s page and all its assets. The viewport tag is used to give instructions to browsers on how to adjust the page as per the device, without which browsers render the page for the default configuration which is generally desktop. This not only affects user experience, but also affects a site’s ranking on mobile devices.
Avoid Unplayable Content
Many websites have certain types of videos or other formats of content that aren’t playable on mobile devices. Examples include licensed media and archaic formats that are not supported by mobile devices. When a mobile user tries to access such content, they receive an error message, hampering their user experience, which in the long run, can start impacting the search rankings of your website. It is, therefore, strongly recommended that instead of using unplayable content, use HTML5 standard tags to include videos or animations, or go for HTML5 animations that are generally supported by all web browsers.
Ensure Easy Legibility
Almost every parameter used by Google and other search engines to determine the rankings of web pages directly or indirectly stems from the quality of user experience they provide, with consumability of content being of paramount importance. The font size defined on the mobile rendition of your website should be large enough to offer easy consumability. As a rule of thumb, Google advises webmasters to ensure that the font is at least 12px in size. Having said that, the basic intent remains easy legibility of content, without any need for the user to resort to the much-frustrating “pinch and zoom” exercise.
Last Words
Those were just a few of the many, many aspects you need to consider when developing a cutting-edge responsive website that not only works great but also ranks high on search engines. That’s, actually, when you need the expertise of one of India’s leading responsive website designing companies, ROI Mantra. Offering a full suite of responsive web design services, we have developed a variety of robust, efficient, scalable, and cost-effective web assets for a spectrum of clients, ranging from home-brewed businesses to internally-acclaimed brands. If you are looking for a responsive web design and development agency, the search ends here. For a no-obligation consultation, simply call +91-84480-78585 or email at info@roimantra.com.