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Mobile web traffic is growing at a rapid rate. According to The Next Web, mobile web traffic has risen as much as 35% since July 2011. What will that mean for 2013 and 2014? We’re sure you can guess. The web is propelling forward at warp speed, such that the weight sitting upon the shoulders of web designers and developers has never been greater. Mobile web consumers expect to view web content on the device of their choosing without straining their eyes — and rightfully so.
Whether you’re an online store, real estate firm, antique shop, restaurant or university it’s time to start thinking about how you can revamp your site to be as user-friendly as possible. We’ll stress the word “revamp” as it’s not about jamming your current content structure into a responsive design but rather thinking outside the box to determine how you can best serve information to consumers in a way that makes sense in a responsive environment. That may mean focus groups, market research and a lot of trial and error, but in the end it will be worth it.
Also keep in mind that smartphones have become quite accessible to those with hearing and/or vision impairments, and guess what? They’re your web consumers, too. Wouldn’t it be nice to give them a site they could easily navigate without having to zoom-in over and over, possibly getting lost in the process?
As if that wasn’t enough to think about, there’s one more thing to keep in mind — the Retina display. Just as HD televisions became the norm over time, the Retina display is following in its footsteps. The better of an image we see on our desktops and laptops the better of an image we’ll want to see on our smartphones. Ask yourself this: What happens when the current Retina display on an iOS device gets two times better? Five times better? Your slightly-blurred image will really be in rough shape then.
So let’s get to it! After viewing hundreds of responsive and Retina display ready WordPress themes on our MacBook Pro’s, iPad’s and iPhone’s we’ve compiled a list of 50 for you to check out. The majority are business and portfolio themes with a few e-commerce mixed in, but with a little tweaking these could suit just about any industry or profession.
Responsive Retina Display Ready WordPress Themes
Appster ($40) | Business and Portfolio Theme by Prothemeus
Camp ($55) | eCommerce Theme by Prothemeus
Entity ($40) | Portfolio Theme by SwiftPSD
Fresco ($45) | Portfolio Theme by Contempo
Kingdom ($40) | Portfolio Theme by SwiftPSD
Lattice ($45) | Portfolio Theme by Contempo
OrganicWeb ($40) | Environmental Theme by Colibri Interactive
Outreach ($40) | Charity/Nonprofit Theme by Design Crumbs
SneakPeek ($40) | Portfolio Theme by Add Two More
Stacker ($30) | Portfolio Theme by xRicrdx
Responsive WordPress Themes
Agenci ($40) | Creative Agency Theme by Purty Pixels
AREA53 ($50) | Creative Agency/Portfolio Theme by AREA53
Aware ($45) | Portfolio Theme by Andre Gagnon
Bruan ($40) | Creative Agency/Portfolio Theme by Jonathan Atkinson
CleanR ($35) | Creative Agency Theme by Zen Themes
Contrast ($40) | Creative Agency Theme by First Base Design
Cotton Candy ($40)| Portfolio Theme by Pixelous
Cubano ($40) | Portfolio Theme by MushinDesign
Desat ($40) | Portfolio Theme by Themnific
Float ($35) | Blog Theme by myTheme
Fluid ($59) | Creative Agency/Portfolio Theme by Theme Fit
Gigawatt eCommerce ($55) | eCommerce Theme by Obox Themes
Hero ($49) | Portfolio Theme by Theme Trust
Jigsaw ($45) | Creative Agency Theme by Adaptive Themes
Magic Space ($40) | Business Theme by HawkTheme
Kinetico ($55) | eCommerce Theme by XThemes
Knead ($35) | Portfolio Theme by Obox Themes
KnowHow ($45) | Knowledge Base/Wiki Theme by Chris Mooney
Mindful ($49) | Creative Agency Theme by Theme Trust
Plug ($40)| Creative Agency/Business Theme by jdsans
Radius | Creative Agency Theme by Okay Themes
Reach ($40) | Creative Agency/Portfolio Theme by EugeneO
Reason ($45) | Portfolio Theme by MDNW
Responser ($45) | Portfolio Theme by 70kilo
Reveal ($49) | Portfolio Theme by Theme Trust
Rime ($50)| Creative Agency/Portfolio Theme by imaginem
Ruskin ($40) | Creative Agency Theme by United Themes
Shelflife ($70) | eCommerce Theme by Woo Themes
Shiny ($45) | Creative Agency/Portfolio Theme by MC Studios
Simflex ($40) | Blog/Portfolio Theme by Pablo Fierro
Size Mttrs ($40) | Portfolio Theme by HappyCom
Slick ($45) | Creative Agency/Portfolio Theme by Mattia Viviani
SmartStart ($45) | Creative Agency Theme by Samuli Saarinen
Spacing ($45) | Creative Agency/Portfolio Theme by Tauris
Stilo ($40) | Portfolio Theme by Purty Pixels
Submarine ($45) | Portfolio Theme by Pressly Themes
Travel ($40) | Fullscreen Travel Theme by UIUXUX Studio
Uber ($49) | Creative Agency Theme by Theme Trust
Viewport ($50) | Blog Theme by ThemeZilla
William ($40)| Portfolio Theme by nistic
Wrapping Up
Change is never easy. We’re with you on that. But this is one change you should consider making for your website and the sites of your clients. Granted, there will be some exceptions — if you’re working in IT with complex networking software maybe you don’t need a responsive site — but the rest of us likely fall within the consumer web market and would be more than fine on a responsive platform. It will mean rethinking your content strategy, including marketing and adspace, but as the saying goes — “content is king” — and it should be your top priority to focus on delivering it well to as wide an audience as you can.
Helpful Resources
- Responsive Web Design eBook
- What The Heck is Responsive Web Design?
- Responsive Web Design: Ideas, Technologies and Examples
- How to get your WordPress site ready for retina display
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