You've undoubtedly heard the term "responsive design"-probably on this website!-but you may not be entirely clear what it means, or how it can benefit your business.

To put it in plain terms, responsive design means your website is designed to "respond" to the device on which it is viewed. Whether users view your website on a mobile phone, a tablet, a laptop or desktop, the website not only fits the device screen, but also presents the appropriate features for that device. For instance, on a phone, users may see a simpler, scaled-down version of the site, but one that still includes all the key elements.

Is your current website responsive design? If you're not sure go to http://responsivedesignsimulator.com/ and type in your URL to see how your website looks on all types of devices. If you find out your website isn't responsive, type in this URL, http://www.sc-responsive-plus.com/, to see how a responsive design website looks.

Whether you have an ecommerce website or just a business website, there are many reasons to make your website responsive design.

More and more, both consumers and B2B buyers are using mobile devices to go online and look up business addresses, research products or learn more about companies they're considering doing business with. If your website doesn't display properly, chances are they'll surf over to your competitor's site.

Google recently started giving higher search rankings to mobile-friendly websites when displaying results on mobile devices. Think about it: If you get a page of search results on your mobile phone, wouldn't you click on the ones that Google tags as mobile-friendly? So would your customers.

Performing common tasks such as clicking on buttons or links, not to mention filling out forms and completing transactions, is much more difficult on sites that are not mobile friendly. This means you could be missing out on purchases, requests for more information or even phone calls because customers are struggling to use your site on the go.

You may think you don't need to use responsive design because you already have a separate mobile-optimized website. Mobile optimized websites take content from an existing website and reformat it for mobile devices. They might have a URL that starts with an m. While these sites do function on mobile devices, they have some serious downsides. First, you've got to update, pay for and maintain two separate sites, which costs you time and money. Chances are, that mobile-optimized site gets neglected and ends up outdated. Second, search engines may "read" the content from the two sites as duplicate content, which can seriously harm your SEO.

It does cost a little more to design a responsive design website, but when you consider that you can stop paying for your separate mobile-optimized site and not have to spend time updating that site, you'll probably come out pretty even. That's not even considering the added sales you'll likely generate when your website uses responsive design. And if you're like most small business owners, your website can use an update anyway-so why not make it responsive while you're at it?

Still not convinced that you need responsive design? Try checking out the Google Analytics for your business website. How much mobile traffic are you getting? Now the big question: How many of those mobile visitors are converting to sales? If you don't use responsive design, the answer is probably "None."

Don't spend time and money to get customers to your website…only to have them leave without buying. It's worth the investment to use responsive design and transform those visitors into buyers.

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Rieva Lesonsky is CEO of GrowBiz Media, a media and custom content company focusing on small business and entrepreneurship. Email Rieva at rieva@smallbizdaily.com, follow her on Google+ and Twitter.com/Rieva, and visit her website, SmallBizDaily.com, to get the scoop on business trends and sign up for Rieva's free TrendCast reports.

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