According to a research study by Monetate, responsive design has become an important trend and suggests that it become increasingly important in 2014.
For website owners with a responsive design, the next important step is ensuring high performance browsing.
This article takes a closer look at how responsive sites work and how to optimize them for higher performance. The article covers main solutions on optimizing Responsive site High Performance Browsing. You can also read Why Responsive Website Design is Good for your Business before heading over to this article.
Fluid Grids and Media Queries
Fluid grids and media queries are 2 important elements in any responsive website. Both work parallel in order to deliver an unmatched experience. For most web designers, one of the first steps is to use fluid grids and media queries to design a responsive site. Fluid grids are different from regular fixed grids in that they use percentages rather than fixed pixels. This ensures high compatibility on virtually every platform including Smartphones and tablets. Media queries work complementary to fluid grids, ensuring that the website knows what the viewing device is capable of and how to adjust the fluid grid accordingly. The result of their combined use is a superior responsive experience across multiple platforms, screen resolutions and system capabilities.
Optimization Techniques
According to a test by Guy’s Pod, most websites, despite being responsive, made use of complete site content. As a result, loading times were significantly higher than they should have been which can, according to Strangeloopnetworks, result in major traffic loss. As such, it stands to reason that a responsive site alone is not effective. Here are a few great ways to optimize responsive sites:
Image Optimization
Rather than placing large files on your website, use adaptive scripts that resize your images, ensuring both impact and reduce load times. Moreover, if you have pictures, try using JPG instead of PNG. While they may not be as vivid, they significantly reduce loading times.
Code Compression
Web designers, regardless of their coding preferences, should consider compressing their code. This helps reduce size and, evidently, improve performance.
Element Removal
Another great way to optimize your responsive site for high performance browsing is to remove unnecessary elements. For example, if you have added widgets, timers, or external social media requests, it may be a good idea to remove them if they do not attribute to a direct consumer impact.
Testing
When optimizing responsive sites, never freely believe each change is perfect. Always make changes in increments and then perform loading and responsive tests to measure how changes. Moreover, never optimization multiple areas at once.
For example, start with code compression and, once satisfied with the balance between quality and performance, move onto image optimization. By doing so, you ensure reduced debugging and maximize website performance.
Once a responsive site is obtained, the next goal should naturally be to optimize it for high performance browsing. From the coding itself to each individual element, web designers must optimize every element of their website. Not only does it help to make the website perform better, it enriches the browsing experience and ensures a high customer conversion rate.
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