How to improve your mobile site?

When does a website become mobile-friendly?

A website is mobile-friendly if it: assists users in completing activities swiftly and cheerfully;

On a mobile device, such as a smartphone or tablet, it works properly.

• loads incredibly quickly,

• displays text in a comprehensible manner without requiring users to pinch and zoom,

• provides plenty of space for touch navigation,

• provides additional value to mobile users

• For search engines, this is immediately understandable.

What is the significance of mobile SEO?

Mobile SEO ensures that your mobile site presents your content in the best possible way to a mobile device user. Because our world is becoming increasingly mobile-oriented, it is critical that your website is mobile-friendly. If your site isn’t, or isn’t properly, mobile-friendly, you’ll lose out on a good search engine ranking and, as a result, revenue. As a result, you should do all possible to optimise your site’s mobile appearance and make it as good as possible. It should, in fact, be fantastic!

For a time, Google’s rankings were based on the mobile version of the site. You’ll have a hard time achieving good rankings if your site isn’t up to par or if your mobile site has fewer material. If you don’t already have a fully functional mobile version of your site, you should create one as soon as possible, preferably as a responsive design. To get you started, Google has a terrific getting started guide.

Keep in mind that your website is a single entity. You shouldn’t have a separate “mobile site” from your “desktop site.” You should have a single website that adjusts to the size of the screen on which it is being viewed. That also implies that the content of your various points of view should be consistent.

How to make your mobile website better

You should concentrate on a few things to increase your mobile SEO:

• Create a positive user experience.

• Make sure your website is mobile-friendly.

• Boost the speed of your website

• Make use of organised data.

• JavaScript, HTML, and CSS code should not be blocked.

• Use interstitials and pop-ups sparingly.

• Don’t utilise a lot of redirects.

• Select the appropriate viewport.

• Check for mobile compatibility.

• Inform Google about your website.

Concentrate on making it simple and enjoyable to use.

Give your users a wonderful experience, and you’ll notice that Google will like it as well. Determine why users come to your site and which tasks they perform the most frequently. Do you want folks to give you a call? Make sure your phone number is prominently displayed and accessible via a clickable link. Do you want to increase conversions? Make your buy button stand out and work as it should! Use these tasks to draw attention to your website and to lead your visitors in a helpful and enjoyable manner. When your user is frustrated, it hurts you and your results. Your mobile site should be thoroughly tested, improved, and optimised.

Design that is responsive

There are several options for making your site mobile-friendly. The most crucial is responsive design, which is Google’s preferred technology. Your site will have a single URL with a responsive design, making it easier for Google to comprehend and index.

If you use WordPress, your theme is likely flexible and adaptable to all screen sizes. Make sure to use Google Chrome’s Developer Tools to see how your site scales. If it doesn’t scale properly, you should contact your web developer to have it fixed – or switch to an other theme.

Boost the speed of your website

Improving your site’s loading speed is one of the most significant things you can do to improve your mobile SEO. People quit slow-loading websites over and time again, according to research, and many never return. For years, speed has been a ranking element, and Google is increasingly concentrating on resolving this issue. More evidence may be found in the Page Experience update and the introduction of the Core Web Vitals metrics. We offer more information on how to increase the speed of your website and which solutions can help you do it.

Improve your website’s web hosting.

The most important thing you can do to improve the speed of your mobile site is to upgrade your web hosting. Many websites are hosted on low-cost servers that share a lot of server space with other sites. It’s critical to avoid cheap hosting and instead invest on a solid plan with a reputable provider – it’ll pay for itself! We offer a page with WordPress web hosting businesses that we can recommend because we personally vetted them.

Images should be optimised.

If there’s one thing you can do right now to increase the speed of your website, it’s optimising your photos. Don’t put those HD images with a resolution of 3000 x 2000 pixels on your website. Use programmes like ImageOptim, Squoosh, or WordPress plugins like WP Smush to scale them down and make them smaller. You may potentially provide those photos in next-generation image formats such as WebP.

Reduce the size of your code

The speed of your site is affected by every request it receives. You need to work on lowering the number of requests. Minifying code is one technique to accomplish this. This means you may bundle and concatenate components like JavaScript and CSS, resulting in fewer files being loaded by the browser and a quicker site. This may appear difficult to implement, however a plugin like WP Rocket can handle all of your caching requirements. Alternatively, you can use Cloudflare’s Automatic Platform Optimization for WordPress to obtain a slew of improvements all at once.

Caching in the browser

By enabling browser caching, you’re instructing the browser to save page items that don’t change frequently in its cache. The browser will only have to download new and dynamic content when it returns again in this manner. Once again, a plugin like WP Rocket can assist you with this. If you choose, you can also do it yourself.

Redirects should be minimised.

Because a page has been moved or removed, a redirect takes a visitor from one requested page to another. While this provides a positive user experience when done correctly, the more redirects you utilise, the slower your site becomes. Don’t go on a never-ending redirection spree. Also, avoid leaving links to deleted posts pointed to fresh ones lying around. Make direct links whenever possible.

Make use of organised data.

Every website requires structured data. You may define your information in a form that search engines can understand using structured data. As a result, you have a direct line of communication with the search engine. In exchange, search engines may provide you with fantastic rich results. Google may become confused if your mobile site lacks the same structured data as your desktop version. Yoast SEO adds structured data to the most critical areas of your site automatically, and you can fine-tune it to your preferences.

Assets such as JavaScript, HTML, and CSS should not be blocked.

We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again: assets like JavaScript, HTML, and CSS should not be blocked. This makes it more difficult for Google to reach your site, which could result in poor rankings. To see if you’re blocking resources, go to Google Search Console. If you actually want to improve your mobile site, remove all barriers.

Enhance legibility

Check to see if your mobile site is readable on mobile devices. Check your typography using a variety of devices to see if it’s in order and, if required, make changes. Your site’s typography may make or break the user experience.

Increase the size of tap targets.

People despise it when their finger can’t reliably press a button, link, or menu item. The size of the buttons is sometimes not given enough consideration by designers. When navigation is difficult or uncomfortable on a mobile device, people become frustrated. Please correct it.

Select the appropriate viewport.

The width of the page is determined by the viewport for the device that is being used to see it. You can ensure that visitors with specified devices see the correct version of your site by specifying a proper viewport. If you don’t do this, you risk showing your desktop site to a smartphone user with a small screen, which is a big no-no.

Use interstitials and pop-ups sparingly.

Sites that employ huge pop-ups or interstitials to promote newsletters, sign-up forms, or advertisements will be penalised by Google. These frequently obstruct the user’s ability to swiftly obtain the content they sought. Use these sparingly, but if you must, make sure you follow Google’s guidelines.

Test your website and notify Google.

Before you begin working on mobile SEO, conduct a Google mobile usability test to determine where you should begin. You should constantly testing to check if you’re making progress through your task. If you have optimised your mobile site, you must notify Google so that it can be checked and indexed. Keep track of your site’s performance with Search Console.

Look into Google’s Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP).

Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) is a Google and other companies’ project to make web pages load more faster on mobile devices. You can optimise your pages in a way that Google can utilise to give them special treatment by enclosing your content in special HTML code. Google caches pages and presents them with a stripped-down layout to ensure that they are delivered quickly.

AMP is a useful tool to have in your toolbox, and many websites can benefit from using it. It’s simple to get started if you have a WordPress site; simply instal the official plugin. This completes the majority of the setup. More information can be found in Google’s guidelines.

Final thoughts

The new baseline, the new default, is mobile. Make every effort to improve and enhance your mobile site, not only in the eyes of Google, but also in the eyes of your visitors. It’s not just about amazing content and immaculate technical presentation when it comes to mobile SEO; it’s also about providing an unforgettable user experience. You’ll be on your way to the top once you’ve accomplished that!