How to Convert an Existing Website to a Responsive Design

Web design has come a long way since it was first introduced.

Today, it is being used to provide a wide range of service from banking to selling. The global e-retail value for the end of 2018 will be around $2.8 trillion U.S. dollars. This number will continue to rise to reach $4.8 trillion by the end of 2021.
Why are these numbers important? What do they have to do with a responsive website and making website mobile friendly? Well, these statistics prove that the online market will continue to grow. So, investing in it is a good idea.
Studies have shown that a responsive, well-designed website will be able to reach bigger audiences due to its adaptability to different screens. Therefore, it makes sense to create a website which offers a great UX (user experience) and transform your static site into a responsive website.

How to convert a non-responsive website to a responsive design

Let’s consider two possible scenarios. In the first one, you created a site a while ago and it was initially doing well. But with time, new technology makes your website unresponsive to new devices.
In the second scenario, you just created your website and you are officially running your business. However, you fail to account for the variety of devices and decide to pay attention to a specific brand or screen size.
Although the examples are different, they share the same predicament. To get out of this situation, you need to convert the static website into a responsive one. The following expert tips can help you improve the design of the website’s UI to meet the expectations of your customers:

1. Identify possible breakpoints and framework

You have to understand that all devices have distinct frameworks. To make your site responsive, you have to create a unique design for each device that is currently popular among users or your target audience. Breakpoints will help you make plans for all the frameworks of these devices.
You can find these by looking at your un-responsive website and determine the exact place to divide your site without damaging the design. Identifying the breakpoints is important, so make sure you take your time to plan how your changes will help your website to become responsive to mobile devices.

2. Add pinch-to-zoom functions

After defining the breakpoints for various devices, you can then proceed to make sure your design is functional in various web browsers. Most of these browsers show the full view of the website which can affect content visibility on some devices.
The best way to visualize this content is by implementing a feature that can enlarge certain content to your design. Adding these tags will make your website more responsive by ensuring all your media queries function.

3. Focus on developing CSS styles for a wide range of devices

This is the stage where you begin to focus on particular screen sizes and developing your site to be compatible with all of them. For this, we use media queries, which make up the core of responsive design.
The queries enable you to match the right screen size to a particular style. You can then use this information to find the right tool to implement the design. Media queries largely depend on the previous two points we’ve already looked at. So make sure you have a good start.

4. Develop the navigation and typography of your website

Creating a good navigation seems to be a common problem for individuals trying to convert an HTML to a responsive website template. The goal here is to keep the navigation simple and compressed. This will allow it to fit any screen size the user chooses.
Typography is also a serious issue when making a website more responsive. A website with good navigation alone will not make it responsive. Take the typography of the website into consideration when making it more responsive. So make sure you look at the font, its size, color and other features that might contribute to this.

5. Improve your site’s flexibility

Let’s look at the media content such as images and video. This step requires you to make sure you size your media content to fit various screen sizes.
Optimization is very important as it will permit your media to remain clear on small screen devices such as mobile phones. The media will also maintain its quality on larger screens. The goal here is to make sure your content is not too large for the screen it is going to appear on.

6. Make sure you understand various interactions

A plethora of devices is at our disposal. All these are unique in one way or another and offer a variety of interactions to the users. A desktop computer will not work the same way an Android or iOS device would.
Furthermore, Android and iOS devices will have their differences too. In terms of operation, making your site as responsive to touch screens as it is to a computer navigated by a mouse is important to help you make the complete conversion.

Conclusion

The websites created in the past could do well because the number of viewing platforms was a lot less than we have today. However, in this article you can see that designers focus on creating websites to not only be used on desktop computers today.
Additionally, the rise in technology has brought a new age of smart devices. The most popular of these devices are smartphones and tablets. In order for a website to be viewed on all the various screen sizes, it has to become responsive, and that is just what we have laid out.
You will be able to reach a larger demographic with a responsive site. Therefore, you should begin to take the necessary steps in that direction. If you are a designer, you can work systematically to make the improvements. If you are not, make sure you talk to an expert who can help you turn any site into a responsive site.