Responsive Web design is simply the art of creating websites that can fit any device whether it is a desktop computer or a tablet or a smart phone. Websites that are responsive are not just easy to use, but very engaging. No matter how small the device is, the website will still look attractive.

The number of smartphone users is ever increasing. In fact, more searches are conducted on mobile devices rather than on desktops. Small businesses simply can't ignore this fact anymore and need to adapt to the changes occurring in the web designing arena.

Here are some things to keep in mind to make sure you're following the best practices for responsive web design.

Mobile First

Start developing on a smaller screen first. Not only is this easier since there is less real estate but you're less likely to miss edge cases.

Once you have your first mobile layout setup, increase the size to larger screens and adjust using media queries (discussed below) until you are at the maximum size (typically desktop).

If you want to see a really good tutorial about building using the Mobile First paradigm check out The Net Ninja's series on this on Youtube.

Media Queries

How you adjust your layout is by using media queries. You can have your base CSS applied to everything and then use media queries to override elements. For instance you might have a flex-col column style design that you want to override to flex-row so your elements line up in a row for larger sizes.

A few breakpoints you might want to change up things could be: Small Mobile Screen (320–400px) Large Mobile Screen (400–720px) Tablet (720–900px) Laptop (900–1100px) Desktop (1100px+)

Space

You want to adjust margin and padding between different screen sizes. Typically smaller scree should have less white space to use the limited real estate. You will often see text going to almost the full screen width etc. As you get into larger screen sizes you have more room to breathe and can play around with more margin and padding.

Font Size

Most developers don't think about changing their font size with different layouts but it can make your text use the screen space more effectively. You want to keep font size smaller for smaller screens and increase slightly with larger screens.

Images

Images should be responsive as well. Take care to adjust how they are being displayed on different device sizes. It is a common mistake to have images overflowing or cut off particularly for smaller screens.

And that's it! You should be able to follow good responsive web design practices by paying attention to the above elements.

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