Over half of Internet users worldwide access the Internet via a mobile phone. This means that while you’ve created the most stunning website for the desktop with stunning graphics and imagery, most people are missing out if you haven’t Likewise optimizes your website for mobile devices.
In fact, if your website isn’t mobile optimized, 61% of users are likely to leave your website, and worse, you might not even find it in the SERPs.
Apart from the fact that Google does not penalize mobile-friendly websites, 74% of its users are users more likely to go back to a mobile friendly website, and if you’re an ecommerce business, they’re more likely to buy too.
Learn why mobile optimization is important and best practices for mobile optimization.
What is mobile optimization?
Well, let’s start with the basics. What is mobile optimization?
Mobile optimization just means that when a user visits the mobile version of your website – from a smartphone, Blackberry (uh?) Or tablet – it will be seen that their experience is as seamless as if they were on your desktop website .
So why is it important?
Not all developers design for mobile devices
A good web designer will design for both, but the sad fact remains that not all web developers create mobile-first websites automatically large Problem for your company.
Designing with mobile devices in mind means that developers consider both screen size differences and load times. Optimization takes into account overall website design, page loading speed, and overall structure to ensure that the user experience is not (or at least not distracting) different from viewing your website on a desktop or laptop.
If you’re not optimized, people won’t find you
As mentioned earlier, 57% of users who surf on mobile devices cannot find you in the Google SERP if your website is not optimized for mobile devices as Google will penalize and even penalize websites that are not optimized for mobile devices. The are mobile-friendly, but not charged quickly. Google goes to great lengths to make sure companies know they mean business when it comes to mobile optimization (silly pun, aside).
Google even took into account the fact that people are searching more on mobile devices, so they created mobile-first indexing, which means they are now looking at the mobile version of the website for indexing purposes In front they are looking at the desktop version. So if your mobile version isn’t as great as your desktop version, you’re in trouble. (But it is not doom and darkness; it is easy to fix.)
Mobile optimization best practices
Here are some best practices for mobile optimization.
- Above the fold is still important. People still have a screen. So the best thing to do is to make sure that your website looks great on mobile for the first milliseconds. Many websites say that “above the fold” doesn’t matter to endless scrolling, but it’s still important to consider what your mobile pages will look like when a user first lands.
- Use responsive design. Responsive design techniques often make your website mobile-friendly “automatically” by resizing your text, menus, pages and images accordingly. Responsive design means that your website works from a small smartphone to a large tablet.
- Test your mobile website. Sometimes it is easier to remove some elements from the mobile version of your website if they don’t translate well on a small screen. Test the speed of your mobile website.
- Pagespeed counts. Make sure each webpage loads in less than a second. If it doesn’t, Google will penalize your website and users won’t stick. Due to connectivity issues, page speed is even more important on mobile devices than on desktops. You can minimize code, use browser cache, and reduce redirects to increase speed. Run a free SEO audit.
- Use code instead of pictures. While your stunning graphics translate well on the desktop, it doesn’t always work well on mobile devices. Think of ease of use over images. But images are still important, and you can explore the uses of modern image file types like SVGs (vectors) or WEBP.
- Take into account the design of the menus and modal dialogs (newer versions of pop-ups). You don’t want the user’s mobile experience to be negative. If chat boxes, popups, CTAs and links bombard the user and fill their screen during the first minute of their browsing experience, you will likely get them to close that tab.
- Don’t use flash. Flash doesn’t work for mobile devices. All content must be coded in HTML 5.
- Use structured data from Schema.org. Make sure you use Scheme the same way you use Voice Search Scheme to index your mobile pages as well.
- Make sure that supporting scripts are not blocked. Blocking JavaScript, CSS, or images can result in 404 broken links, resulting in a negative user experience and poor Google trolling.
- Design for a “fat finger”. Think about how big (or small) your buttons are as your index fingers (or thumbs) will be touching them. Also, don’t put buttons in the scrolling path or your user will be frustrated by accidental clicks. According to NNGroup, the pioneer of invented usability heuristics, touch targets should be at least 0.4 “by 0.4”. This is given in inches as modern smartphones have a variable pixel per inch or ppi. For example, the iPhone X has an estimated 458 pixels per inch (ppi). This means it should be no less than 13.5 by 13.5 pixels (~ or 40% of an inch, 0.4 inches) in pixels.
As we use our smartphones more and more, mobile optimization can become even more important as many people may never see your website on their desktop. It’s a no-brainer, but make sure your website is mobile friendly ASAP.
Check your mobile design regularly
Everyone has visited a website they love on the desktop that doesn’t work for mobile. The experience can be incredibly frustrating and most users don’t stick with it, which isn’t good for your bounce rate. Especially for those in the eCommerce space, the shopping experience and website design of your users will become Really Matter. For all other companies, customers and prospects are likely to read your company’s blog on a mobile device. It’s a good idea to check your mobile design regularly to make sure it’s keeping up with the times. Additionally, it can be a good idea to do user testing or A / B testing to see which design users will respond best to.
Would you like to see if your website is optimized for mobile devices?
Contact us to discuss how well your website is performing on mobile. We advise you free of charge. Remember, all of our website creations are automatically optimized for mobile, desktop, local SEO, on-page and off-page SEO and include branding, design and custom images, a complete business package.