Need Some Direction to Improve Your Responsive Web Design?

                                               bradfurdfrostweb.com

Knowing how responsive web design can be frustrating at times we have provided some tips from sources that will help you in your endeavors.


1. Why use Responsive Web Design?

RWD is a cheap option; you can re-purpose your existing desktop layout to ensure it works well on a smaller mobile device. If you’re developing a new site, there are few reasons not to use RWD.

However, are you considering RWD because it’s an inexpensive way to tick a few business strategy objectives? You can certainly implement a mobile layout within a few hours but will it be useful? It’s usually obvious when a responsive design has been added as an afterthought. It may be better to stick with a good desktop layout than undermine your online presence.

2. Consider the Context, but…

…avoid stereotypes.

Historically, designers considered desktop viewers to be static and smartphone users to be roaming. A train company would typically highlight ticket buying on desktop devices and station directions on mobile devices. There are a couple of problems with this approach:
the boundaries have become blurred. People use whatever device is practical e.g. they may surf the net on a phone while watching TV.
RWD reveals nothing about the context. Device resolution is a crude assumption especially when you consider the high-density displays offered by modern phones and tablets.

If static and roaming users have different contexts, it may be preferable to provide separate mobile sites or apps which have dedicated functions.

3. Distill Your Content

Why do people visit your site? What’s important to those users? What’s their typical journey? Without these answers, you’ll be tempted to throw everything on the home page. That may be possible on a large display but you’ll struggle when switching to a mobile layout.

The best option: think small-screen first, then
…
4. Design Upwards

Once you have a design for the smallest practical screen, you can work upwards in a series of media query breakpoints.

While there are no strict rules, breakpoint steps should not be large — perhaps no more than 200 pixels. However, each step need not be a major re-flow such as additional columns; it could be a font-size change, floating images or another simple tweak.

5. Keep it Fluid

Ideally, your design should be fluid between breakpoints — not fixed. While fixed layouts are easier to comprehend and code, they’re too fragile for RWD (refer to Is Your Responsive Web Design too Fragile?)

Ideally, even your media queries should use proportional units such as %, em and rem instead of pixels.

6. Never Compromise

RWD should never be used to offer a watered-down version of your website. In some cases, you should consider additional facilities on mobile devices such as geo-location and off-line support. Keep it simple and easy to use:
don’t use browser sniffing
don’t disable zooming
don’t hide content.
7. Only Performance Matters

RWD may be cheap to implement but it should be planned from the start. Applying RWD to a site serving 1Mb+ pages will never result in an optimal experience on devices operating over a mobile network.

Considerations In Building a DIY Website Builders for Responsive Design

1) Some hosting facilities offer DIY building software and even offer free domain name registration. Be careful when taking on this sort of package. Find out who controls the domain name. Is it the client or the hosting facility? It can be difficult to secure or move the domain name if the facility owns or controls the domain name.

2) DIY builders are low cost – but are sometimes limited in terms of layout, graphics along with limited features and functionality. What initially seems like a good idea can end up being a frustrating experience.

3) When using a DIY site builder – the software will build an interface and internal web pages from some available templates, which is not always a bad thing. But the designs are usually considered "proprietary", and more often than not, they are tied into the back-end database which is owned by the facility. Then it can be difficult, if not impossible to move a site if desired.

4) Updating ones site can be a rewarding experience. It can also be a time-consuming exercise. It's best to first ask the question; how much time does the website maintenance take and could the time be better spent on building the business instead.

5) Usually the overall design can be “acceptable”. But is “acceptable” good enough? Remember, it’s the company’s “brand” that is at stake and one never gets a second chance at a good first impression.

So, there are many things to consider when building the company website including the design, layout, ease of moving a site if necessary, scalability and much, much more. More often than not, it's better to out-source the development to experienced developers and end up with a better business website. Consider talking to a local web design company in the area to answer any questions that might be important when making that decision.

IFM Web Services offers Responsive Web Design, website analysis, SEO Press releases, Search Optimization and Facebook pages for businesses. Located in the Toronto area (GTA), IFM has helped business achieve an effective online presence and has helped clients as far away as Bermuda and Mexico. For more on Social Media, SEO or Web Design for businesses, visit IFM at http://www.ifm.ca

http://www.sitepoint.com/7-responsive-web-design-tips/

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2013/10/prweb11255072.htm