3 Reasons Why Responsive Web Design Is Good for SEO

Up until a few years ago, the vast majority of people accessed the Internet from their desktop or laptop computers and the most common screen resolution was 1024×768. Now things have changed a great deal and this resolution is one of the rarest. Today, people access the Web from a multitude of different devices, with mobile traffic increasing exponentially every year.
Because of this fundamental trend in Internet usage, responsive Web design is steadily heading towards becoming an industry standard. Responsive Web design means that a page is separated into various elements which automatically arrange themselves in such a way that your site is optimized for all resolutions and devices such as smartphones or tablets. It negates the necessity of having different versions of your site for different devices.
A key element of Internet marketing is good search engine optimization. Responsive Web design is great for SEO for a number of reasons.
1 – Better Usability Equals Better Search Engine Rankings
The longer people stay on your website, the more easily you will be able to maintain your rankings. With an increasing percentage of people accessing the Web from tablet computers and smartphones, making a site easily readable and navigable on such devices is essential. Almost two thirds of people will leave your site immediately and search for something more readable. Your bounce rate will increase which, in turn, will hurt your search engine ranking. Responsive Web design allows your viewers to see your content in a suitable format for the device they are using.
2 – Mobile-Friendly Sites Receive Higher Rankings for Mobile Searches
Before long, the majority of search engine queries will come from mobile devices and the search engine giant, Google, accounting for more than a sixty percent market share, has stated that it increases site rankings for mobile-friendly websites in mobile searches. A responsively designed website will enjoy a higher rank in Google and more often appear in results when people search from their tablets and phones.
3 – Avoiding Duplicated Content
Many people still have separate versions of their websites; one for mobile and one for desktop and laptop computers. With responsive Web design, you only need to have one site and one copy of all of your content. Google won’t penalize your site solely for having duplicated content within your own domain, but it can be a problem for your visitors if they get redirected to the wrong version of your site. It also means that there will be a lot more work for you since you will need to maintain the two or three different versions of your site. Responsive Web design means that you will have everything on a single page.