A responsive website design may be a new phrase that you hear thrown around a lot lately. You may or may not know what it is, but chances are you have no idea just how important it is to the future success of your business.

Simply put, a responsive website design is a website developed to function differently when being looked at from a computer, a tablet, or a smartphone. Responsive websites know what kind of device is being used and automatically resize and reposition images and content to best fit the screen size and functions of the device being used. This ensures that your website design both functions and looks amazing on any type of web browsing device.

The Importance of a Responsive Website Design

So, just why is the future success of your business based on you having a great-looking, responsive website design? Before you go thinking that this is all hype, consider a few facts. 77% of all North Americans use the internet and 70% of the people have used the internet to search for a business in the past 12 months. The truth is people now look online to find local businesses, service providers, restaurants, bars, and coffee shops more than any other type of directory or advertising medium.

But, it is not enough to simply have a regular old website, because now the way that people are using and viewing the internet is changing. According to Pew Research, 90% of adults have a cell phone, 58% have a smartphone, and 42% have a tablet. Perhaps, more importantly, is the fact that 63% of adult cell phone users go online using their phone and 34% use their cell as their primary means of searching the web. Keep in mind that these statistics are for adults of all age ranges, not just younger generations. If you look at younger demographics, the numbers are staggeringly higher.

The bottom line is that mobile internet usage is overtaking desktop and laptop internet searches, and this trend only shows signs of continuing. As it stands right this moment, if your website design is not responsive, you are almost always missing out on 34% of your potential customers. Furthermore, you are at risk of missing a staggering 63% of cell phone users who occasionally use their phones to search for and review businesses just like yours. These “occasional” users are, more often than not, searching while they are out and looking for a very specific business, service provider, restaurant, bar, or coffee shop. This 63 % are potentially ready to buy right now!

That is why I say it is not an exaggeration that your business will begin to fail if you do not have a responsive website design. The people who want to buy are searching on a device that your website was not meant to be viewed on. This means it either does not work or is so user-unfriendly on mobile devices that people will pass you right by. Mobile is not the future, it is now…are you ready?