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If you’ve spent any time reading about the web, you’ve probably heard the term “responsive design” being mentioned. In fact, it’s been quite the buzzword for the past decade or so. Unfortunately, many still don’t really understand what this type of design truly is. More importantly, others fail to recognize why it’s critical that every higher ed website be set up this way. If you fall into this category, not to worry. We’ll explain everything below.

First, let’s delve a little bit into what this phrase actually means. Simply put, responsive design allows a website to automatically adjust so it can be viewed on any device. So, whether the user happens to be browsing on a PC or their smartphone, their experience is the same. In other words, responsive design makes a website mobile-friendly.

Now, let’s take a look at some of the specific benefits of having responsive design for your higher ed website.

• Increased reach. When your site is accessible anywhere, you’ll expand your reach from only those that surf the web on actual computers to those who primarily use smartphones and tablets (a number that’s increasing at a significant rate).
• Better user experience. If you’ve ever visited a site that wasn’t responsive on your mobile device, you already know how unpleasant the experience can be. Whether it was harder to navigate, slow to load or the fonts were too big, chances are you didn’t enjoy your stay, which means you probably moved on to another site.
• Lower bounce rate. Because responsive websites offer a more pleasant user experience, their bounce rate (number of people leaving the site after just a few seconds) naturally decreases. This subsequently leads to greater chance of converting web visitors into applicants and hopefully enrollees.
• Enhances SEO. Google recently rolled out some major changes to its algorithm which penalize any website that isn’t mobile-friendly. So, it’s not so much that responsive design is a nice enhancement, but rather a necessity if you want your higher ed website to rank well in the search engines.
• Saves time and money. Before responsive design became popular, many schools chose to have two separate sites – one for desktop and one for mobile. Making any changes to these sites basically meant double the work and a greater expense. Have one mobile-friendly site eliminates this unnecessary extra work and lowers costs as a result.

If your higher ed site is not yet designed to accommodate these important changes, chances are your revenue will begin to reflect that in a negative way. Our CMS product is mobile-ready and can help make your website a place where every visitor can enjoy a consistent, positive experience. Simply request a demo below to get started.

TAGGED: Tags: mobile, design