Should Your Small Business Website Use a Responsive Design? 4 Reasons Why… Maybe Not.

You might not hear this from anyone else, but your small business might not need a responsive web design.
Don’t get us wrong. We love responsive design (though in a future post, we’ll dig into why it doesn’t go nearly far enough!). But we’re not… in love with it. We don’t drink the kool-aid and we don’t push it on every client. If it makes sense for your business, we’ll always recommend it. But we put your unique business landscape – and most importantly, the needs of your customers – above all when we make recommendations. We have no responsive design agenda.

Most web designers will tell you that you’ve gotta have it, and will pad out their estimates accordingly, because the simple truth is that a responsive design will always cost more (usually a lot more!). But here are a few reasons you should consider bucking the trend, not hopping the bandwagon, & not buying into the Responsive Web Design craze. You should not use a responsive web design for your NJ business if:

1. It would take funds away from your SEO budget

   It makes no sense to create a site without committing budget towards getting people to see it. Whatever you do, don’t commit all your online marketing budget to a site design. Ongoing SEO efforts are a non-negotiable. Be sure you’re setting enough aside upfront so that you can get eyes on the site after it launches – and if it’s a choice between SEO or responsive design — choosing SEO is a no-brainer.

   Now it is true that in some ways, the choice of a responsive design is a choice for SEO, because Google is favoring responsive & mobile-friendly sites in search engine rankings. And in an ideal budgetary scenario, you’d do both while dancing in a field of sunbathed flowers. But over in the real world, you often have to make tough choices, and prioritizing ongoing SEO efforts over responsive design is likely the right, most cost effective choice.

2. Your analytics tell you the audience isn’t there

   We subscribe to the mantra, ACTS — Always Check The Stats. We believe that as many of your online marketing decisions as possible should be data-driven and results-oriented.

   So log into your Google Analytics account and check your mobile/tablet visitation. If the numbers of those type of users are modest, then your data is telling you that you likely won’t get results from investing in responsive design. You may be better off devoting that budget elsewhere — namely, SEO. Not to sound like a broken record here, but if the visitation isn’t there, invest in obtaining it – do more to pull people in from search. Gain that search traction and keep an eye on the stats – when they start to steadily climb north of 15%, start your responsive design as a phase 2.

3. A simpler mobile site would meet your users’ needs

   I drive a Toyota. I suppose I could drive a Rolls Royce, but I really don’t need one. The Toyota does everything I need it to do, and does it really well. A Rolls Royce might be nice someday though.

   Think the same way when considering responsive design – what do my customers need when accessing the site on mobile? Chances are, while they’d love to have every single piece of your riveting content pushed to them in all its mobile-optimized glory, they really only need a smaller selection of that content. You might be able to cater to your users’ every need with a relatively simple, stripped down, mobile-optimized version of your main desktop site. And you could save a lot of money in the process.

4. It’ll cause you to rest on your laurels

   We’ve noticed a tendency among small business owners who do have a responsive design: they tend to think they’ve done enough. Their site is responsive, and so they have fulfilled their obligation to mobile and tablet users. Now they can ride off into the sunset knowing that all users are having a great experience with their site. Right? Ehh….. maybe not.

   Optimizing your interface is a great thing – but it’s not the only thing. So much more can be done to optimize your site’s content and functionality for mobile users. And often, those other aspects of mobile optimization can be more cost-effective and bring more ROI than a “mere” responsive design. So if using a responsive design will lull you into complacency in your mobile marketing strategy, we suggest that it may not be worth the cost – because you may not reap any of the rewards.

What’s the alternative?

While we don’t always push for a responsive web design, we do push hard for a “mobile-first” strategy. A “mobile-first” mindset ensures that your website will meet the needs of mobile customers before anything else, and then allows for meeting the needs of tablet and desktop users through the use of “progressive enhancement of the user experience (UX). It’s a budget-smart, forward-thinking, results-oriented approach. If a small business has a tight budget, we recommend that it should be prioritized in the following order:

1. Mobile-optimized site. If you have a website, it should be mobile optimized. If your budget doesn’t allow for a mobile and desktop optimized site, choose the mobile design!
2. SEO Program.
3. Desktop-optimized. If you have knocked down those 2 essentials, then build out your desktop version.
4. Responsive. If your Analytics demonstrate the need, and your budget allows, awesome! Go responsive! Can’t wait! But remember – that’s just the beginning of mobile optimization.

The bottom line is this: Responsive Web Design should be considered as part of your comprehensive online marketing strategy. It’s a great tool in the toolbox. But it isn’t a silver bullet or a “must have.” Talk to us to brainstorm how to create a practical, results-oriented online marketing strategy that will bring the best ROI for your small business.