
Things that weren’t fathomable a mere 5 or 10 years ago are now mainstream or hitting the market. If there’s one thing that we can all maybe agree on is that people have been quick to adapt to the constant changes in technology. Ultimately, deciding which approach is best varies from person to person. Also, are you starting from scratch or working with a legacy website? What do you hope to achieve? What are your short term and long term goals? Money is always a touchy subject, but you should have a budget in mind. Once you have that all figured out, you’ll see the light at the end of the tunnel and be able to make a more informed choice.īesides the user, it’s always a good idea to think about your needs. Ask yourself these questions: Who is the user? What devices are they most likely to browse on? How can I best reach them? How can I provide them with a positive experience so they keep coming back? What do they want? In order to figure out the answers, you’ll definitely need to conduct some user research before making a firm decision.

An important subject to always consider before taking the plunge is your audience. Or perhaps you like the idea of having more control through adaptive design, along with providing your audience with a more tailored user experience. You may be considering going the responsive route thinking it will save you money in the long run while being more SEO friendly. It also makes your site more mobile-friendly, which is a good thing, since the majority of web traffic now comes from people browsing on their phones.īoth adaptive and responsive design have their own merits, and trying to figure out which one to use can be quite the conundrum. Higher SEO Rankings: Having a responsive design website increases search engine rankings, which is something that Google likes.This also means a flawless and uniform user experience no matter what device you use. Since new devices are constantly being released every couple years, you won’t have to worry about creating another layout for a tablet or mobile phone that doesn’t fit a standard size. Accommodates Multiple Screen Sizes: A fluid design layout can easily adapt to multiple screen sizes.This translates into less overall maintenance, as well as a decrease in expenses because you will only need to make changes on one layout as opposed to multiple layouts. Easier to Build and Maintain: Since you only need one layout for multiple devices, creating websites using responsive design is faster and requires less work.

Adaptive designs, on the other hand, make a good choice for beginners who are just setting up their website and need the best layout. Responsive design is a good choice for those who want a clean and easy-to-use website design that doesn’t change for different devices. You can make a decision based on your customer base, their requirements, and your budget.

Responsive design keeps the layout the same for all devices, thus providing you with the best user experience.Įach design comes with its share of pros and drawbacks, so which one is best for you is totally up to you. Designers believe that adaptive designs are much better and easier to create than responsive ones.Īdaptive designs are comparatively less flexible than responsive designs, as there is a chance the layout might not function well or it may break completely when you are using a certain device. Though both designs work well when it comes to the loading speed, adaptive design loads a little faster than its responsive counterpart.Ī responsive design might seem a better option here, as it requires only one layout that works for all screen types and sizes, but it is the opposite. If you choose the latter, your audience will get a different layout for your website depending on the device they are using.Ī user is highly likely to abandon a website if it takes longer than average to load, which is why the loading speed has become a prominent part of a website’s technical SEO. For instance, a responsive web design has a simple layout that works for all devices and fits all screens, while the adaptive design has a pre-set layout for different devices. The major difference between a responsive and adaptive design is the layout, which is pre-set for both but varies for different users.
