In this day and age of smartphones, it's imperative to have a website
that is mobile-friendly. Smartphones are our primary connection to the
internet. Over the recent time the use of smartphones has considerably
increased as compared to desktops, laptops and tablets.
that is mobile-friendly. Smartphones are our primary connection to the
internet. Over the recent time the use of smartphones has considerably
increased as compared to desktops, laptops and tablets.
How to optimise your site for mobile search?
To boost your position in mobile search, you need to optimise your website for mobile search.
Here are suggested 9 ways to optimise your site for mobile search:
1. Test your site
To monitor the performance and user experience, you can use the testing
tools to check the mobile-friendliness of the website. The Mobile-Friendly testing tool created by Google guides whether your site meets a particular standard for mobile pages or not. In order to test your site, you need to enter the site’s URL and Run the test. This process will take a few seconds to display the results.
tools to check the mobile-friendliness of the website. The Mobile-Friendly testing tool created by Google guides whether your site meets a particular standard for mobile pages or not. In order to test your site, you need to enter the site’s URL and Run the test. This process will take a few seconds to display the results.
The result will show you a full report of your website. If the result is
positive and your site is mobile-friendly, you’ll see a message letting you
know, with a screenshot showcasing how your website appears on the smartphone. On the contrary, if your site isn’t mobile-friendly, the result will highlight the elements that are required to be fixed.
positive and your site is mobile-friendly, you’ll see a message letting you
know, with a screenshot showcasing how your website appears on the smartphone. On the contrary, if your site isn’t mobile-friendly, the result will highlight the elements that are required to be fixed.
2. Use a responsive website theme
It is quite important to choose an apt theme to suit your business
sector. Regardless of the web development platform, before making a purchase, check and ensure that the selected theme is highly secured, responsive and offers the features and functionality required for your website.
sector. Regardless of the web development platform, before making a purchase, check and ensure that the selected theme is highly secured, responsive and offers the features and functionality required for your website.
A good high premium theme would have an attractive look and style,
provide flexible settings to customise the theme, hence giving an appealing style and good user experience.
provide flexible settings to customise the theme, hence giving an appealing style and good user experience.
3. Simplify site navigation
Your website’s navigation should be simple and intuitive. Most of your
site visitors are interested to know what products/services you offer. If the
visitors do not find the site user-friendly and simple to achieve their goals,
they are likely to move away to another site with better user-experience.
Hence, it is important to have a clear layout and implement a meaningful
navigation bar with simple drop-down menu.
site visitors are interested to know what products/services you offer. If the
visitors do not find the site user-friendly and simple to achieve their goals,
they are likely to move away to another site with better user-experience.
Hence, it is important to have a clear layout and implement a meaningful
navigation bar with simple drop-down menu.
In the case of an eCommerce website, make an easy and quick checkout
process with a safe and secure transaction, allowing customers to choose from multiple payment gateways. It is a good idea to have a clear ‘call to action’ option on the relevant sections or the service pages of the website, which makes it easy for the visitors to find your contact details with ease i.e. e-mail address, contact number or an enquiry form.
process with a safe and secure transaction, allowing customers to choose from multiple payment gateways. It is a good idea to have a clear ‘call to action’ option on the relevant sections or the service pages of the website, which makes it easy for the visitors to find your contact details with ease i.e. e-mail address, contact number or an enquiry form.
Convert your prospective online shoppers into happy customers!
4. Page speed is important to user experience
The loading time of your site is the most important metric along with
its performance. Modern users demand a swift and seamless webs experience, especially when it comes to eCommerce websites. Statistics reveal that if a site takes more than 3 seconds to load, your prospects will move to your competitor’s site. A slow page speed means fewer page views, decrease customer satisfaction and less conversions.
its performance. Modern users demand a swift and seamless webs experience, especially when it comes to eCommerce websites. Statistics reveal that if a site takes more than 3 seconds to load, your prospects will move to your competitor’s site. A slow page speed means fewer page views, decrease customer satisfaction and less conversions.
To improve Google Page Speed, you need to diagnose the reasons for the
slow running of the site, followed by the fixes to improve and enhance the
speed.
slow running of the site, followed by the fixes to improve and enhance the
speed.
How to improve Google Page Speed?
- Optimise the images and content.
- Improve the server response time.
- Implement caching.
- Minify your code.
- Keep all aspects of your site up-to-date.
5. Choose a reliable web host
Selecting the right host for your site will determine how well your site
will perform. That’s why it is imperative to choose a plan that guarantees
minimal downtime, steadily performance, increased security and speed.
will perform. That’s why it is imperative to choose a plan that guarantees
minimal downtime, steadily performance, increased security and speed.
6. Redesign your pop-ups for mobile devices
Pop-ups are one of the most effective ways to grab a visitor’s
attention. Pop-ups should be strategically positioned on your site to maximise conversions and exhibit important information to the users. However, this can be problematic when your site is witnessed on mobile devices. On a device with a smaller screen, even mid-sized pop-ups can become disruptive which looks normal on the desktop. This is not good as a user experience and Google equally does not favour this and implements some pop-up penalties.
attention. Pop-ups should be strategically positioned on your site to maximise conversions and exhibit important information to the users. However, this can be problematic when your site is witnessed on mobile devices. On a device with a smaller screen, even mid-sized pop-ups can become disruptive which looks normal on the desktop. This is not good as a user experience and Google equally does not favour this and implements some pop-up penalties.
There are a set of pop-ups rules and guidelines that must be followed to
avoid being penalised. You need to configure your pop-ups as follows:
avoid being penalised. You need to configure your pop-ups as follows:
- Pop up should only cover a small fraction of the screen.
- If a user wants to dismiss the pop-up, there should be a clear visible descent sized button.
- These guidelines do not apply to login dialogs, age verification forms and other pop-ups that exhibit important information such as cookie notices, etc.
The above mentioned tips will reduce your chances of getting penalised
and work to your advantage.
and work to your advantage.
7. Take advantage of social media marketing
After search engine, Social Media is the second largest platform for
mobile traffic. Promote your website on some of the most popular social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter.
mobile traffic. Promote your website on some of the most popular social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter.
Social Media accounts should include the mobile URLs, allowing the users
to click and bookmark for future visits. Add the option for liking and sharing your post on some of the key pages.
to click and bookmark for future visits. Add the option for liking and sharing your post on some of the key pages.
8. Use Accelerated Mobile Pages
In the year 2016, Google officially announced accelerated mobile pages
as one of the mobile search algorithms. They were designed to optimise faster mobile pages and improve the readability of the mobile content pages. When a user searches on Google, the AMP links appear at the top and spontaneously loads when clicking on it.
as one of the mobile search algorithms. They were designed to optimise faster mobile pages and improve the readability of the mobile content pages. When a user searches on Google, the AMP links appear at the top and spontaneously loads when clicking on it.
Instead of hosting these pages on their own servers, Google uses the
cached display of the mobile website from the initial publisher, which helps
the page to load instantaneously without redirecting to the actual website.
cached display of the mobile website from the initial publisher, which helps
the page to load instantaneously without redirecting to the actual website.
3 major components to build AMP pages:
- AMP JS
- AMP Cache
The AMP HTML is entirely redesigned. This code uses custom commands to build active content explicitly proposed for mobile devices.
The AMP JS assures that all your AMP HTML pages get performed as quickly as possible. With the AMP JS library, it's easy to manage resource
loading. As all these external resources are asynchronous, nothing on the
page can be stopped from performing.
loading. As all these external resources are asynchronous, nothing on the
page can be stopped from performing.
The Google AMP Cache fetches and caches all AMP HTML sites using a proxy-based delivery network for your content, resulting in enhancing the performance of your AMP site automatically.
9. Finally: aMSnalyse the layout of your mobile site
Apart from the technical aspect, you really need to look at the design
of your mobile website. Check things like the font size and style which are an important elements of the page. Understand that users are using their fingers to navigate, not a mouse. To deliver the best user experience, make sure all your buttons, are clearly laid out and large enough to tap with a finger. Smooth navigation and user experience is important for your mobile site.
of your mobile website. Check things like the font size and style which are an important elements of the page. Understand that users are using their fingers to navigate, not a mouse. To deliver the best user experience, make sure all your buttons, are clearly laid out and large enough to tap with a finger. Smooth navigation and user experience is important for your mobile site.