Responsive Design VS Adaptive Design In Kansas City

We all know that Google enjoys when websites are available on mobile. They have been known to rank those sites higher in their search engine. The question is now whether a responsive website, which is quite popular these days, or an adaptive website, is the best choice. There are insights on whether both can win. I’m hoping for something that trumps them both. It’s true, that if we think mobile first, we are better off. If we design on a desktop that is a 40 inch monitor, we are going to be painting ourselves into a corner. If we take our company, our business, or goods and services, and think about visualizing it on a mobile device, we’ll be in a better position. It’s better to think small, compact, with emphasis on what truly matters and then give those certain elements the space they need when on bigger displays. If you have a great desktop version, yet haven’t even thought about mobile, you’ve missed a big demographic. There is no doubt that mobile usage is on the rise.

Responsive Design vs Adaptive Design

Google has had updates where mobile is key, but it does not say whether you have to use responsive design, just that the site should be accessible on a mobile device, with a good user experience. So we ask, should we just stay with responsive, which will adapt no matter what? Or do we roll out adaptive, and specifically target those users who have the screen sizes 320, 480, 760, 960, 1200, 1600?

Responsive web design is very fluid, like water, and will mold to the size of the screen no matter what the target device is. Responsive web design uses CSS media queries to change styles based on the target device such as display type (block, inline-block, none), width(px to %), height etc., and only one of these is necessary for the site to adapt to different screens.

Adaptive design is not fluid at all. It is a simple, static layout based on breakpoints which will never respond after they have loaded. Adaptive detects the screen size and then loads the appropriate version of the layout.

KC Web Specialists currently enjoys using responsive web design. It’s one and done. All information will show. Will we use adaptive in the future. It depends on the client and what they are looking for.

If you are looking for a responsive website or an adaptive one, consider giving KC Web Specialists a call.

KC Web Specialists’ Kansas City SEO / PPC specialist, blogger, WordPress website developer.