We live in a fast-paced world where constant technological advancements make all types of information readily available and accessible. People are constantly hungry for more information and services, regardless of their location or the type of device they use, which is largely due to their desire for instant gratification.
Now that 60% of searches start on mobile devices, businesses need to make sure their customers have a smooth mobile experience. But taking your business website mobile isn’t just a trend; a mobile-friendly website can improve your brand’s image and sales. Since 2015, Google has also required that websites be fully optimized for mobile use if they want to do well in mobile search results. And if ranking is your goal, here’s how to make sure your website is mobile-friendly so you can please both the top search engines and help your customers find you.
What a mobile-friendly website entails
A “responsive” or “mobile-compatible” website is another term for a mobile-friendly website. It indicates that the site is simple to view, use, and navigate on a smartphone or tablet. People prefer mobile-friendly websites that adapt to touch controls and smaller screen sizes, as they tend to be drawn toward their smartphone or tablet for ease of use and portability.
A responsive mobile-friendly website gives users a better experience. It has the same URL as a company’s desktop site and has the same content, but it changes to fit the reader’s device, so the user doesn’t have to stop what they’re doing.
The importance of having a mobile-friendly website
Investing in a mobile-friendly website can result in increased e-commerce sales and brand expansion. According to Statista, mobile retail commerce sales in the United States reached about $400 billion in 2022. This represents a nearly twofold increase over 2019. Consumers have been shopping from home more often since the COVID-19 pandemic began, and this includes shopping done on their phones or tablets. In fact, more than 30% of US e-commerce consumers made a weekly purchase using a mobile phone in 2021.
Customers also tend to return to mobile-friendly websites that offer responsive, smooth, and painless shopping experiences. Consumers are more likely to spend more time on your website and tell their friends and family about your company if it is easy to use on a mobile device, which can ultimately increase their chances of making additional purchases.
Having a website that is mobile-friendly is essential for both the customer experience and ensuring your content ranks well on Google, but here are a few additional reasons why a mobile-friendly website is essential to your business:
- Your brand’s mobile site can make or break your brand. When it comes to mobile site expectations, brand credibility is at stake. If your mobile site takes too long to load, a potential customer may be turned off. If your website doesn’t work well on mobile devices, you can almost guarantee that a customer will leave. This will not only result in lost sales but also cause harm to your brand’s reputation.
- The mobile revolution is still in full swing. Mobile is now a dominant platform that rivals or outperforms desktop use. Mobile devices are likely to become even more common as technology advances. If your company is easily accessible to customers on the go via mobile, it will appear modern.
- Mobile websites enable more online research. The ease with which consumers can search the web on phones and tablets encourages them to do more browsing and research when looking for products and services. Their time investment may result in a financial investment in your offerings.
Examining your website’s mobile friendliness
Google has provided several tools for businesses and website owners, including a free report within Google Search Console that assesses a site’s mobile friendliness. This mobile usability report can assist website administrators in adapting to the most recent mobile search algorithm requirements.
The Mobile-Friendly Test from Google tells you how easily a visitor can use your page on a mobile device. Both of these resources can help you provide a flawless mobile experience to site visitors while also remaining optimized to rank well on Google.
How to Optimize Your Website for Mobile
If your website is not ready for Google and other search engines’ mobile-first indexing, it will face serious ranking issues, regardless of how stylish and awesome your web pages are. So, how does one go about making a website mobile-friendly?
By reorganizing your desktop content elements into mobile-friendly ones, you can create a mobile version of your site. In this case, you’ll deliver a responsive web design that corresponds to the desktop version. To create this new site design, follow these steps:
- Simplify your homepage
Once your site is mobile-friendly, you’ll want to clean up the main page (and any subsequent pages) by removing unnecessary content. For example, if you own a maternity photo studio, the main page of your mobile site should include a simplified appointment form. Other information, such as services, prices, and gallery photos, should be placed on separate pages to avoid conflicting with the primary form.
On a desktop website, multiple photos, text, or forms on one page may be acceptable, but on a mobile device, too much information may deter visitors from completing the main task. To convert viewers, a simplified main page should emphasize the most important call to action.
- Make use of a mobile-friendly template
Look for a mobile-responsive website template or theme when selecting a website template or theme. Shopify and Webflow, for example, have mobile-responsive themes that are simple to customize. You can also find mobile-responsive themes on WordPress, either through the content management system or by searching for “responsive theme + WordPress” on Google.
If your current website theme is non-responsive and lacks a mobile-friendly option, try inserting the following code into the head> tag of each of your website pages.
meta name=”viewport” content=”width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0′′>
Test this code on a few pages to see if it changes the width of your pages to match the smart device being used. If not, or if you have a complex website with many separate pages, you should consider switching to a mobile-friendly template instead.
- Think about touchscreens
People are most likely using touch on mobile devices to click buttons, links, and so on. When designing a mobile-friendly website, using thumbs instead of a mouse can present unique challenges. These pointers and tricks will be beneficial.
- Many mobile devices do not support animated Flash elements, so avoid using them.
- Links should be spaced out so that users do not accidentally click on the wrong one. A user should not have to zoom in to see a link or read text.
- Clickable buttons should be large and placed near the bottom, left, right, or center of the screen. Big buttons, along with legible text, will improve the overall user experience and increase conversions.
- Include a clickable phone number so that customers can call you directly from your website.
- Include a clickable email as well, so that they can directly email you after clicking on your email address.
- Include a map of your office or store that can be opened in the consumer’s preferred GPS app, if applicable.
- Pop-ups should be avoided. A pop-up on a mobile site can be disastrous for your traffic if visitors are unable to remove or avoid it. Pop-up triggers can also be limited on mobile, so it’s best to avoid them entirely.
Finally, test your mobile-friendly website on a regular basis to ensure it is performing as expected. Running A/B tests and utilizing Google’s free mobile site tester can help you stay ahead of the competition.
Note, however, that a mobile-friendly website doesn’t equal a mobile app. It’s important to spell this out because there are too many websites out there with great apps but poor mobile views.
The difference between a mobile app and a mobile-friendly website
A mobile-friendly website is a collection of webpages that can be accessed through a browser and adjust their size depending on the device being used to view them.
On the other hand, a mobile app is a piece of custom software that can be downloaded from various platforms, such as iOS and Android. However, both have their advantages and disadvantages.
The benefits and drawbacks of mobile apps
- Offline accessibility
- enhanced user experience and interactivity
- Notifications that keep users interested
- App stores’ approval process is difficult
- Constant upkeep and improvement
The benefits and drawbacks of mobile-friendly websites
- Design and maintenance costs are kept to a minimum.
- Improved compatibility
- There is nothing to install for accessibility
- Real-time updates
- Search engine friendly
- Not as engaging
- There is no offline access
Although not every company requires a mobile app in addition to a mobile-friendly website, in this day and age, investing in a mobile-friendly website is critical to the growth and sustainability of your business. An updated website reduces friction and can increase conversion and profit for your business. So, if you need help updating your website or creating a mobile-friendly website, send your request to us at [email protected], and we will get you started immediately.
