Today, most people browse the internet on their phones. If your website doesn’t work well on small screens, visitors will leave — and Google may rank you lower in search results.
That’s why responsive design is so important.
In this post, we’ll go through simple, yet best practices for responsive design.
These tips will help you build a website that looks and works great on all devices — from phones to tablets to desktops.
What Is Responsive Design?
Responsive design means your website automatically adapts to different screen sizes.
Whether someone is visiting from a desktop or a mobile phone, your website content will be easy to read and use.
Why Responsive Design Matters
- More than half of internet traffic comes from mobile devices
- Google uses mobile-first indexing — it ranks your site based on how it works on mobile
- A good mobile experience means visitors stay longer and engage more
So: better user experience = better SEO.
Responsive Design Best Practices
Here are the key things you should follow when building or improving a responsive website:
1. Use a Mobile-First Approach
Start designing your website for mobile screens first, then scale up for tablets and desktops.
This ensures that the most important content stays visible and clear, even on smaller screens.
2. Choose a Responsive Theme or Template
If you’re using WordPress, Wix, Squarespace or similar platforms, make sure to use a responsive theme. Most modern themes adapt to different screen sizes automatically.
Before publishing, preview your site on multiple screen sizes.
3. Use Flexible Layouts and Grids
Avoid fixed-width layouts. Instead, use percentages or relative units (like em or rem) to make sections adjust smoothly as the screen size changes.
Modern CSS frameworks like Flexbox (here’s a pretty good CSS Flexbox Layout Guide) and Grid are great tools for building flexible layouts.
4. Set a Viewport Meta Tag
This small piece of code tells the browser how to scale the site on different devices.
Add this line inside your <head> tag:
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
Without it, your site might appear zoomed out or broken on mobile screens.
Note! In platforms like WordPress and Wix, the viewport meta tag is usually added automatically by modern themes or templates, so you don’t need to insert it manually.
5. Make Text Easy to Read
Keep font sizes at 16px or larger for body text.
Avoid using very small fonts or too many font styles.
Also:
- Use good line spacing (1.4–1.6 line height)
- Keep paragraphs short and clear
- Use high contrast between text and background
6. Use Scalable Images and Media
Images should automatically resize based on screen size.
Use:
img {
max-width: 100%;
height: auto;
}
This makes sure images don’t overflow or get cut off on small screens.
7. Design Touch-Friendly Buttons and Links
On mobile, people tap with their fingers — not a mouse.
Make sure:
- Buttons are big enough (at least 44px tall)
- There’s space between clickable elements
- Links are clear and easy to tap
8. Avoid Horizontal Scrolling
Test your pages to make sure no horizontal scroll appears on mobile. Scrolling side-to-side is confusing and often causes visitors to leave.
Common causes:
- Oversized images
- Fixed-width containers
- Unoptimized tables or elements
9. Test on Real Devices
Don’t rely only on desktop previews. Open your site on real phones and tablets and try it yourself:
- Can you read the content easily?
- Do buttons work well?
- Is the menu easy to use?
Also test on:
- iPhone and Android
- Different screen sizes (small phones, large tablets)
You can also use browser tools like Chrome DevTools (Right-click → Inspect → Toggle device toolbar).
10. Load Only What’s Needed on Mobile
Avoid loading large files, sliders, popups, or heavy animations on small screens. Mobile users often have slower internet and less patience.
Keep the mobile experience clean, fast, and focused.
Key Takeaways:
- Use a mobile-first approach
- Choose responsive themes
- Make layouts, images, and text scale naturally
- Test often — especially on real mobile devices
- Focus on clarity, speed, and ease of use
Good responsive design helps you keep visitors happy, and it helps your site rank better on Google.
Read more about technical SEO here.
Want an expert to audit your site from a local SEO perspective? Check out my SEO in Finland services.
Tammivaara Digital Marketing 
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