Responsive web design offers many benefits, and if implemented correctly, it can make your website run smoother and drive more traffic.
But like with anything else, there are some downsides associated with implementing responsive web design, and you should know what these are before you implement anything.
These challenges are exactly what we discuss below, so read on if you’re interested in learning more!
Slow Loading
These days, short load times are the norm. Therefore, visitors will likely lose patience and move on if your site takes forever to load.
One of the main downsides of implementing responsive design is that it can slow down your site.
But fortunately, there’s a solution. Specifically, you can implement what’s known as “conditional loading.”
With this implemented, only the site’s most important elements will be viewable immediately. Then, if the visitor chooses to stay, more pictures, texts, videos, etc., will become available.
This is especially useful for mobile users.
Browser Compatibility
The reason why site owners integrate responsive design is so their sites work across different platforms. But it’s not enough for a site to be desktop- and mobile-accessible—it needs to be accessible across the various browsers as well.
This is where CSS3 Media Queries comes in. Modern browsers use this to determine screen size. After identifying the size, the browser can display the content accordingly.
Use a browser-testing tool to know how well your site works across different browsers.
Images Lose Detail
At a certain point, scalable images become blurry, and this blurriness can make your website seem unprofessional and unreliable.
Especially if the image is meant to convey something important about your site, the last thing you want is it to come across as blurry to site visitors.
To prevent this from happening, crop larger images down to a smaller size.
And when cropping, don’t forget that images viewed on a mobile device will auto-adjust their height to fit the screen.
Also, use percentages over finite values when adjusting images.
Navigation Issues
The navigation menu is a critical component of any website since it’s the primary tool visitors will use to get around your site.
A responsive navigation menu should change size; there shouldn’t be a structural difference.
In other words, you shouldn’t use one navigation bar for the desktop and a different one for the mobile site. This will confuse site visitors and make it harder for them to find what they want.
So if your brand is all about streamlining and efficiency, keep things simple by using just one basic responsive navigation menu.
Scrolling Issues
Sometimes scrollers don’t translate well after implementing responsive design. Therefore, after implementation, double-check to ensure all the scrollers on the mobile version are large and easy to use.
You could also implement “smooth scrolling” so choppiness doesn’t discourage site visitors.
Issues With Display Data
If you have to include tables full of data on your site, make sure these are responsive tables.
That said, even responsive tables can’t clearly show everything if there’s a lot of data. In this case, you should have a small-scale table that links to a full-screen version.
The main thing you want to avoid is having a crowded, complex table on your site, as it’ll be hard to understand and a lot to load.
Bless Web Design Will Help With Responsive Web Design
Are you looking to make the most of responsive web design? Then you need to reach out to Bless Web Design. Along with ensuring responsive web design is implemented correctly, we’ll also make sure your site is SEO-friendly, fully functional, and visually stunning.
Check out our site to learn more about the sought-after services we’re offering right now!