Quick Makeover of Existing Desktop Only Website into A Responsive Website
It is very cliché; however, I will say this. The number of mobile phone users across the world is increasing; and now it is more likely that the number of people visiting your website using a handheld device will supersede those coming to your website through a desktop computer. Now this said; I won’t go on about why, you should have a responsive website design. We all agree that we need it, want it and should have it. So let’s move on. You have an existing website, but you have designed it for a desktop user. You do not have a responsive website. I would say you are painfully late! But not all is lost. You can still recover and get back in the race, by making this existing website responsive. 
Retrofitting is a good option for a quick website makeover, for viewing on handheld device. I suggest introducing a beta version, or rolling out design and content changes, in stages. This allows your existing customers, adjust to the gradual change.
Design roll out: There is no magic wand that can make a site responsive. If you have a componentized backend for the existing site, it will be considerably easy to retrofit it for a handheld device. In case of large tabular data presentations, form based transaction flows, or integration with legacy backend, developers will have to invest time and efforts to the process.
# Layout hack: It is very likely that the existing website has columns styled in pixels, and a generic grade system may not be in place. In this case, to adjust the layout of your existing website for various devices, gather all classes related to layout columns, and group them based on their type – for example – right column, main column etc. Now you can easily change pixel width to percentage, and make your layout more fluid.
Content roll out: You do not need to write new content, just clean up existing content. Make it concise and keep it terse. This is also your chance to proofread existing content and make it more effective. Now if you have a huge website with complex navigation links and multiple pages, remember that you need to go slow. You can deliver content changes in sync with design changes in stages. Now, if retrofitting your website is a temporary solution and if completely new responsive web design and development is in the offing, then, this is your time to experiment. Make the most of this opportunity and get an idea of what works and what doesn’t. This will set the stage for a successful redesign and launch of a responsive website design.
Retrofitting is a good option for a quick website makeover, for viewing on handheld device. I suggest introducing a beta version, or rolling out design and content changes, in stages. This allows your existing customers, adjust to the gradual change.
Design roll out: There is no magic wand that can make a site responsive. If you have a componentized backend for the existing site, it will be considerably easy to retrofit it for a handheld device. In case of large tabular data presentations, form based transaction flows, or integration with legacy backend, developers will have to invest time and efforts to the process.
# Layout hack: It is very likely that the existing website has columns styled in pixels, and a generic grade system may not be in place. In this case, to adjust the layout of your existing website for various devices, gather all classes related to layout columns, and group them based on their type – for example – right column, main column etc. Now you can easily change pixel width to percentage, and make your layout more fluid.
Content roll out: You do not need to write new content, just clean up existing content. Make it concise and keep it terse. This is also your chance to proofread existing content and make it more effective. Now if you have a huge website with complex navigation links and multiple pages, remember that you need to go slow. You can deliver content changes in sync with design changes in stages. Now, if retrofitting your website is a temporary solution and if completely new responsive web design and development is in the offing, then, this is your time to experiment. Make the most of this opportunity and get an idea of what works and what doesn’t. This will set the stage for a successful redesign and launch of a responsive website design.
Pritesh
Pritesh Pethani
