Responsive Website Design for WordPress

This article is an introduction to responsive website design with the web design software WordPress. If you already know what responsive websites are, then this is NOT for you.

If you haven’t already made sure your WordPress website is responsive, you are probably missing out on a lot of opportunities to hit your conversion goals. No matter if you are running a simple WordPress blog or if you have setup an E-Shop or other online business, you have to ensure your website fits well on any mobile device, phones, tables and other devices.

Creating a website responsive means optimizing it for use on everything from a laptop to an ipad, to an iphone. This is essential for the success of your website.

Note- I have read that over 50% of searches are done on mobile. This may or may not be true, but I guarantee that there are A LOT of mobile searches, especially for local businesses.

Responsive Theme

The first thing you have to pay attention to, if you are just starting out with WordPress or if your are switching to a new design, is that your theme is responsive. That’s essential.

There are lots of responsive WordPress themes, both free and paid ones. Many of the newer themes are responsive and allow your website to adjust to the particular size of any device your visitors are using.

If you are just starting with WordPress, do not install a theme unless it is responsive. Even if you like it initially, you will soon have to consider switching to a responsive one, in order to increase the engagement of your audience but also the user experience for mobile devices.

Plugins

If you own a WordPress website, you will most probably install plugins, sometimes lots of them. Since responsive design has become an essential over the last few years, most plugins, especially most of the new ones run well on mobile devices. Of course, we are talking about plugins which have an impact on how your website looks, because there are also plugins which don’t have visual impacts on your WordPress site.

It’s very important to keep your plugins updated. If you don’t update, you are exposing yourself to a serious security risk.

Test your website’s responsiveness
In you are wondering if your website is responsive and how it looks on different devices, there are a couple of different ways to find out. Of course, you won’t have to buy an iPad in order to find out if your WordPress website is displaying properly on such devices.

One quick and easy trick to find out if your website (or any website you are visiting) is responsive or not, is to adjust the width of your browser, when browsing from a laptop or desktop. Just grab the right corner and shrink the width, resizing it. If the website is responsive, you will see its elements moving to adjust to the new size. If it is not responsive, you will see elements disappearing as you decrease the width.

In addition, there are several free online tools that allow you to see how your website looks in almost any device, mobiles and tables included. Screenfly and Responsive test are two popular ones.

If your theme is not responsive, there are some plugins that can help. WP Mobile Detector helps your WordPress site run smoothly on mobile devices. However, you may need the assistance of a web developer.

You should periodically check your WordPress website on different browsers and devices, ensuring it is running smoothly, especially after the installation of new plugins, or updates.

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Note- You should ALWAYS back up your site before making any changes. This at the very least gives you an option to revert back to.