Designers typically start the website creation process from the vantage point of their desktop computers. As they present their work to you, you sit at your desk and marvel at the website's beauty. Satisfied, you promptly pay them their fee and continue on your way.
However, if this scenario feels all too familiar, you may have overlooked a crucial aspect of website design: the mobile site. In 2018, Google announced that they would begin to rank search results based on mobile rather than desktop sites. The importance of ensuring your website is mobile-friendly cannot be overstated, especially in today's digital landscape. If you haven't recently evaluated your site's mobile layout and performance, it's high time you do so.
Today, we will delve into the reasons why your website should prioritize mobile-friendliness and explore actionable steps to provide users with an optimal mobile experience on your site.
How to Improve Your Site for Mobile
So now that you understand why mobile is so important, what can you do to make sure your site is hitting the right marks?
Look at your website
The initial phase involves assessing your current situation. Grab your smartphone and visit your company's website. Is it slow to load? Once it's loaded, is the layout correct? Do any elements fail to load? Are there overlapping elements? Is the text too small to read?
You can also request a few of your friends to explore your website. What do they observe? Is it straightforward for them to understand your offerings and locate your contact information? If you or your friends identify any problems with the website, it's time to roll up your sleeves and make improvements.
Check Your Site’s Loading Speed
Now that you've had a firsthand experience with your website on a mobile device, the next step is to obtain an official score for your page loading speed. This is where Google PageSpeed Insights comes into play. Google will provide separate scores for both your mobile and desktop site versions. If you don't see a green light on both fronts, it's crucial to get in touch with a developer to improve the loading speed.
Typically, enhancing the mobile loading speed is a relatively straightforward task for a professional developer. Sometimes, it's the presence of large, unwieldy files that cause the slowdown, while in other cases, your website may be built on an outdated theme. Regardless of the issue, a seasoned pro can usually diagnose and rectify it promptly.
Remove Unfavorable Elements
Certain components, such as JavaScript and CSS images, may not load effectively on mobile devices. It's advisable to eliminate these elements from your website and replace them with straightforward images and text blocks.
Additionally, consider implementing a responsive design and opt for a font size that ensures legibility without the need for zooming. These factors are not only crucial for enhancing the user experience but also play a role in your Google ranking.
Furthermore, ensure your content is not concealed within images or other file types that Google cannot analyze. When Google determines how to rank websites for specific search terms, it seeks those keywords within your site's content. If these keywords are embedded in images rather than plain text, Google cannot recognize the relevance of the information on your site.
Maintaining a mobile-friendly website is imperative for serving your audience and improving your visibility on Google. If you haven't thought about your mobile site in a while or have been planning updates for an extended period, the time has come to take action. A few simple adjustments can significantly impact your Google ranking and enhance the user experience.
