Mobile Friendly Websites: Best SEO Practices

Mobile website designs have become an essential part of brands. In our technology-driven world, mobile devices have taken topmost priority in today’s digital world. 

The majority of web traffic comes through mobile handset users. As a result, many websites now find it necessary to generate mobile-friendly content and formatting to attract more visitors to their website. 

However, it’s more than just attracting mobile users. There are several reasons why mobile-friendly websites are an efficient option for brands. 

With mobile-friendly websites, users can access the information they want from anywhere and anytime in the palm of their hands. 

People have gotten so used to instant access to information that they look for almost anything on their phones. 

Having a brand with no access to mobile devices software can be a huge turn-off for most mobile users. In conclusion, Google might list a much lower ranking of your website than it deserves. 

What is a mobile-friendly website?

Mobile-friendly websites are the site designed to optimise the usage of mobile traffic customers. It is the process of creating a website that adapts to the screen size it is viewed on, such as mobile handsets or tablets.

As the majority of website traffic is generated through mobile users, they now dominate desktop computers. And the number of mobile users is expected to grow in the coming years. 

Mobile devices are bringing change even in the shopping habits of the users. The fact isn’t surprising given that the number of users prefers to connect through handsets. 

Further, considering the dynamics of mobile usage, Google’s algorithm often prioritises mobile-friendly websites in search results.

To simplify Additionally, Google has decided to switch to mobile-first indexing for all websites. 

The world is gradually becoming mobile-first, and that is why having a mobile responsive or mobile-friendly website is so important. 

Thus, mobile devices might affect more than just your digital marketing process. It will modify the entire work environment. 

Nevertheless, brands must also focus on designing mobile websites that load quickly, even on weak connection cell phones. 

As many users operate mobile-friendly websites on poor internet connections, brands would not want their customers to have such a daunting experience.

How to check if you have a mobile friendly website

Since its inception, there might be certain factors to consider when creating a mobile website design. 

Below are the significant points to keep in mind while designing a mobile website.

• Avoid engaging your website with software not found on mobile devices, such as flash.
• Since mobile handsets have comparatively smaller screens than desktops focus more on the font size—minimum 12 pixels on 60% of the website.
• Have the same content both on desktop and mobile devices. 
• Enhance your metadata to have identical versions on both desktop and mobile-friendly websites.
• Work on layouts and content order; make sure it appears similar to the desktop version. 
• Before publishing your website, ensure it works adequately well on your mobile website as it performs on the desktop. Further, ensure Google does not view animations on mobile websites as layout shifts.
• Users often operate their cell phone devices using their thumbs. Touch screen navigation can lead to unwanted link clicks. Ensure your mobile website links and images are not too small or too big to block the path of thumb scrolling on mobile devices.

Lastly, to check whether your website is a mobile-friendly website will require only a moment to find out with Google mobile-friendly test tool, insert the link of your website and click on “test URL” This tool will evaluate how mobile-friendly your website is and will provide with detailed breakdown on improvisation if needed. 

How should a user-friendly mobile website design look?

Businesses have started focusing on creating pleasant mobile website experiences. Google started looking heavily at the mobile-friendly metrics for ranking factors in 2015 when it updated the ranking algorithm. 

Google also started indexing mobile sites in march 2018 and also relying more on mobile-first indexing since 2019. 

This has become crucial for mobile sites as search queries are growing more than a desktop. 

This is only the start; Google will keep setting new standards for mobile-friendly essentials in its following algorithm updates. 

Here we are showing examples of 5 companies that nailed the mobile web experience. Their designs will inspire many companies looking forward to designing an SEO friendly and user-friendly mobile website.

Typeform

Typeform has simplified its mobile websites to reduce load times, and they are outstanding in user experience too. This Spanish online software company makes excellent looking forms. 

Even their desktop websites are beautifully crafted and designed. As the mobile version cannot load complex designs like desktop, they removed many of them. 

They are decluttering the site and keep it simple for a more excellent mobile user experience. Though the mobile version does not have the magnificent style as the desktop version still they are enough to be taken aback. 

The new algorithm update emphasises user experience for ranking, and Typeform came out clean in that condition.

Pixelgrade

The WordPress themes from Pixelgrade are mobile-friendly. The pile theme feature is perfect for WordPress portfolio websites. 

These pile themes provide you with an interface to showcase your services and previous work without affecting the overall mobile web design. 

The theme is optimised for mobile devices to efficiently deliver your content’s intended message and not sacrifice the quality of the content at the same time.

Squaredot

Squaredot is an agency in Dublin, Ireland, that allows marketers to build their inbound marketing strategies with simple, colourful and easy navigating accessibility. 

It is probably the best interface where the colour palette, font choices and interactive controls are efficiently balanced. 

The unique thing about Squaredot is the extensive clickable menu that makes you know the organisation’s services with a click. 

Farther down the page, you can add clients success stories just like any social media accounts, which are entirely swipeable.

Zappos

Zappos mobile website is very easily searchable because of its vast inventory. The latest offering and products are placed on the very first page. 

Zappos is an online vendor for clothes and shoes and is also known for its excellent customer service. 

This emphasises helping users easily search their items on the mobile website to make it super easy for their users. 

They know it is apparent that a user-friendly interface could gain their reliability and authority to rank them higher on the search engine result page.

Best practices for mobile friendly websites 

Often brands overlook significant usage of mobile website design. 

Mobile usability is on the breakneck rise; brands need to embrace mobile-friendly practices to access Google ranking and conversions list. 

Mobile users dominate 93% of internet browsers. To develop a top-notch mobile website design, brands must practice ways and techniques to improve their users’ mobile-friendly website experiences. 

Below are the best practices and mobile website design techniques for the brands to follow to have an effective and efficient website.

1 – Design with mobile-first indexing

The process of where Google predominantly uses mobile version content for indexing and ranking is called Mobile-First Indexing. 

Most website visitors like to see similarities between desktop and mobile version websites such as content, images, themes, and colour, although they expect the structure to be different. 

In addition to that, you can eliminate some tabs while sticking around with six or eight tabs or items for the smaller screens. You can keep navigation simple with the vertically oriented down functionality. 

2 – Research if new on a mobile-friendly website

Like most brands, if you initially avoided designing mobile-friendly websites, you might want to first begin with the research on Mobile-first indexing. 

Changes are daunting but not so impossible. You can start with gathering information using the web analytics tool and UX design tips. 

If ads for revenue are your secondary profit methods, you might consider eliminating them from your mobile website design to keep your website fast and clean. 

Lastly, run a speed test on various website elements and take the elements down, which take too long to load. 

3 – Keep essential elements align

Mobile users are prone to operate their mobile devices using their thumbs more in comparison to other fingers. 

Designing your website to avoid unwanted clicks is vital, and the thumb scrolling path is also not disturbed. 

Align the elements of your website in such a way that it puts primary interaction on the front and the centre of your mobile-friendly website. 

The positioning of these functional elements will relate directly to the ease of access for your users. 

4 – Enhance and minimise file size

It is incredibly vital to optimise the content and images of your website. Content and image size can oppressively affect the load time on mobile websites. 

Two primary properties that directly affect the website size are the quality and resolution of elements. 

Resize them before publishing them on your website to boost load speed on the mobile website. 

5 – Optimise the forms for the mobile site

Asking too many questions and keeping long-form requirements on your website is an invitation to annoy your mobile users. 

Mobile users tend to bounce away from the website if they have to fill in too much information. It can be frustrating for them to fill out form after endless form. 

In other words, brands should keep their form-filling process short and sweet. Ensure to ask relevant questions and the size of the checkboxes are visible and accessible. 

Also, refrain from redirecting mobile users to different pages unless it is necessary. 

6 – Disable pop-ups

To improve user experience, Google has rolled out page experience update on pop-ups and call them “intrusive interstitials”, one of the page experience signals. 

Pop-ups on the mobile website create a massive hindrance to easy access or to see what users have selected on their small mobile screens. 

To combat this, Google reduces the search ranking of websites with pop-ups and imposing penalties on the brand websites. 

On the other hand, If your pop-ups show essential information, you can add them to your content and resize them in bigger size compared to the rest. 

7 – Typography 

Unlike desktops, mobile devices have a screen that fits within the palm of the customers’ hands. Words with small fonts are ineligible to the users. 

Thus, the structure of typography differs when it comes to mobile-friendly websites. 

Most experts recommend sticking to one or two font types and sizes on the same page. Use sufficient screen sizes so that words or texts are understandable and readable to mobile users.

8 – Test your mobile website

For the final step, regular testing of your mobile-friendly website can always be beneficial for brands. 

Keeping your website up to date with the latest android, ios, or other software features might, in any event, attract enough traffic to your website. 

With the help of Google’s mobile-friendly test tool, testing your website becomes an effortlessly faster process.  

Wrapping it up

The majority of users depend on mobile devices for their daily internet browsing. 

It has become essential for brands or companies to make their website compatible with mobile devices. 

It is a necessary process for designing mobile-friendly websites. And with various screen sizes of mobile devices, your website must be capable of adjusting to each one of them. 

This article provided our readers with insights into mobile-friendly websites and ways of optimising their mobile website designs.

Web designers generally overlook these things, and that leads to a drastic decrease in traffic engagement rates. 

Brands must follow the above factors to streamline mobile user’s experience most effectively. So that customer landing on your website sticks a little longer. 

The more a customer is on your side, the more chances are more of making the purchase on mobile friendly websites.

Author Bio: Evelyn Grace is an individual blogger and a content marketing professional. She likes to write pieces of high-quality content in digital marketing niches. Also, she’s on a mission to spread out her knowledge to the right audience, who’s eager to learn.

The post Mobile Friendly Websites: Best SEO Practices is by Stuart and appeared first on Inkbot Design.