If you’re not someone who’s well-versed in website design, it can be difficult to distinguish a good website from a bad one. Fortunately, your own experience of visiting websites can help to inform your brand’s website design for the better.

When you navigate a website, you get an instinctive sense of whether that experience is enjoyable or not based on how it feels, whether or not it’s built for the device you’re using. This is why responsive design matters, and it’s something that can have an enormous impact on the user experience (UX) when it comes to mortgage advice websites - especially as more users now find themselves visiting these through mobile devices over desktop.

What is responsive design?

Responsive design refers to the ability of a website to adapt to whatever device the user is viewing it on. For example, the size of the page, the way the text and headers are formatted and the way that a user navigates a website will all vary depending on whether they’re using a mobile device or a PC.

Without responsive design, there becomes a ‘wrong way’ for users to engage with your website, and that means that you’re inevitably going to be providing a large section of your audience with an inferior experience, something that can turn people away from your website, damaging the perception of your brand.

How responsive design improves the mobile experience

With smartphones as the most accessible gateway into the online world, users increasingly expect websites to be optimised for these platforms. Those who are researching mortgage advisers, rates and services are likely to do so through these devices, meaning that it’s in your best interest to be prepared with a mobile-optimised mortgage website.

To keep bounce rates low and to ensure that users feel as though you’re able to offer them what they’re looking for, the UX needs to be considered every step of the way. Responsive design here means allowing the page layout and flow to be preserved on mobile platforms, with headers, texts and links retaining both practical and aesthetic placement across devices.

Another way to design a mobile friendly mortgage website is to prioritise fast load times, reducing the likelihood of downtime and frustration leading users to look elsewhere.

Build trust with a professional online presence

The mortgage advice landscape is not only incredibly competitive, it’s also one where audience trust in your brand is arguably even more key to your success than with other sectors. Building trust is difficult without client engagement, meaning that an effective first impression is going to establish brand credibility through a polished and professional digital presence.

The SEO benefits of responsive design
A key element of demonstrating that professionality is visibility. It isn’t just your users who benefit from a more responsive website, you might also find that it leads to higher rankings and more organic traffic for your website - meaning greater visibility. ​​Google prioritises mobile-friendly websites in search results, and as an effectively responsive website means one URL regardless of whether it’s viewed on desktop or mobile, this also avoids damaging your SEO through duplicate content.

Is your website responsive?

Whether you’re looking to get started with responsive website design or just check on the finishing touches, there are some easy and accessible tools that can help. Firstly, you can check in Google Chrome’s Responsive Design Mode, which allows for a quick and easy way of identifying potential issues with your website. However, there are also many websites that offer a responsive design test for an immediate understanding of how your brand appears across platforms.

Non-responsive pitfalls to avoid
What can damage these efforts are the common problems that you see in non-responsive websites - the kind of websites that might indicate to potential audiences a lack of digital competence or understanding. Text that is too small, too large or in the wrong place, images that are poorly optimised, broken links, horizontal scrolling, slow loading - these can all contribute to this problem, as can a lack of consideration for touch-screen in your interface.

In an increasingly digital business landscape, your brand can get ahead by investing in mobile-first website design - putting your efforts towards long-term business growth that embraces modern audiences.

WEBPRO knows

Around 90% of websites implement responsive design.