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Responsive web design – the new way of creating SEO-friendly WordPress websites

The inevitable has happened. Mobile device users have overtaken desktop computer users among people who use only one kind of device for browsing the internet. Not only are desktop users a minority, but the number of mobile device users is also just double the number of people who use desktops. Google had foreseen the phenomenon long ago and had started advocating the cause of mobile users. For any online venture to succeed in grabbing eyeballs, which is the primary requirement for launching a marketing campaign, websites must display pleasingly on mobile devices. Web designers can just do that by adopting responsive web design. A site viewed with equal ease on desktops as well as mobile devices is the gift of responsive web design that has become the order of the day.

Any SEO plan devised by Omega SEO now revolves around responsive web design compatible with WordPress themes because it is now a standard component of the SEO plan.  Mobile devices are the first choice of people in accessing the internet, and web designers who have the task cut out for creating the best user experience have no choice but to tow the line. Similarly, Google is committed to giving the best to its users always and acting accordingly has put the mobile first indexing in the front seat.  It is now easier for websites that cater to the needs of mobile users to find favors with Google in earning good ranks. Today, responsive design is virtually one-way traffic. What you get from responsive design and why you should not hesitate to embrace it would become clear on reading this article.

Better website usability

The time spent by visitors on your site is an important indicator of its usability and Google keeps a close watch on it. By judging the time spent by visitors on websites, Google tries to understand the underlying value of websites and uses it as a signal for its ranking algorithm.  Websites created with responsive design are easy to navigate and much friendly to users who find the sites attractive. As a result, they spend more time on such websites as they enjoy the much better experience.  The positive reaction of users with websites created by using responsive design gives reasons for Google to reward such websites by ranking it higher. Responsive design benefits users and sites alike.

Bounce rate decreases

Since the responsive design facilitates better website usage and navigation, it leads to longer engagement of visitors who feel comfortable in spending time on the website. Incidents of visitors quitting the site in a huff would certainly be much lower or never happen at all. This means that incidents of viewers bouncing away from websites, a term used to explain instant quitting, would be almost negligible and this adds to the credibility of the site that points to its good quality.  People spend more time on the website; it is not for the design alone but also for the quality of content. For Google, lower bounce rate is a sign of good website that qualifies for earning good ranks.

More social sharing

The social media has always played a critical role in helping SEO gain more mileage. SEO is not only about rankings but also driving more traffic to websites; the social media spreads the good word about your site all around so that more people visit it. More traffic to websites increases the opportunities for increasing sales through improved conversions. Websites built with responsive design makes social sharing easy for mobile users that form the dominant section of the audience that you would like to address.

Minimize duplicate content

The website design has not only to serve the purpose of users, but it has to be search engine friendly too. It should have features that direct search engines towards the content that is most important for business.  As responsive web design does away with having separate websites for desktops and mobile devices, the issue of duplicate content reduces dramatically. Duplicate content can harm SEO prospects as search engines lower such sites in ranking because it shows the negligent attitude of website owners about its quality. Inability to direct search engines towards the right content for indexing would expose the website to uncertainties as search engines would be doing it according to their judgment.

Faster page opening

Responsive web design is responsible for creating websites that load pages faster. Search engines love fast loading websites just as much as viewers like it. Google wants faster loading websites because users enjoy it and user experience matters a lot to search engines.  The loading speed for websites influences searches rankings because it provides a positive user experience as visitors enjoy the time spent on the site.

Mobile users cannot wait longer for pages to display and responsive design is the only way to win them over.