Many people have questions about responsive design WordPress sites. These are some of the most common questions.
Can Any Website Be Converted to a Responsive Design?
Unfortunately, not all sites are easily converted. A site that has a very complex layout or is “graphic intensive” does not always lend itself to an easy conversion. A design that is graphic intensive will have lots of images integrated into the design, and a design flow that does not break down into smaller components that can be rearranged. However, most designs can be simplified to make them work.
Does It cost More to Build a Responsive Design Website?
It doesn’t typically cost any more to build this type of site than when building a standard WordPress website. Most of the special code is build into the theme framework code that we use for building the site. We modify a functional responsive design theme to match the look and feel that you desire.
Is it Cheaper to Convert an Existing Website Rather Than Building a New Site?
It can be cheaper if all of the images and design elements are already created, and the design lends itself well to a conversion. However, we cannot simply modify the existing HTML and CSS code. When converting a site we start out with a new design that has been adapted to look like the old design. All the underlying HTML and CSS code is replaced with updated HTML5 and CSS3 code.
Do These Sites Work With All Web Browsers?
A properly coded responsive design site will work with all fairly new browsers, but some features may be lost if a user has a very old browser that is not compatible with current coding standards. Older incompatible browsers will have problems displaying almost every web site that uses current coding standards. We use special coding techniques to keep a site as compatible as we can for old versions of browsers. The most problematic browser is Internet Explorer version 8 or older (the current version is 11). Internet Explorer 9 was release in March of 2011 and is compatible. FireFox, Chrome, Safari and Opera have been compatible for many years. Very old incompatible versions of FireFox and Chrome as rare. All smart phone models released in the past 5 years should be compatible. Some smartphones lack the ability to play some types of videos, but that is not a responsive design issue.
Do I Still Need a Mobile Website?
No. A responsive design WordPress site is designed to display well on all devices, regardless of the screen dimensions. Rather than just shrinking a web page to fit smaller viewing devices, this technique re-arranges the page and re-sizes fonts and images to retain good view-ability.
Why Are Larger Fonts Used With These Websites?
That’s simple to answer. Larger fonts display better on smaller screens, such as smart phones. Rather than using a 12 or 14 pixel font, which is normal for older website designs, responsive design sites use a 16 pixel font size as the default, which is also the default font size for most web browsers. In addition, this makes websites easier to view for people with vision impairments.
How Does Google Feel About Responsive Design?
Google recommends using responsive design. It is one of the mobile-friendly designs they endorse.