Mobile devices are definitely the most personal and the most pervasive medium of communication in the history of mankind. They have given us the kind of connectivity we never ever had – so we never turn them off or leave them. It won’t be an exaggeration to say that we are addicted to our mobiles.
On April 21, 2015, Google launched the mobile-friendly update to boost the rankings of mobile-friendly pages. It applies to mobile searches conducted across all websites, regardless of its target audiences, their language, region, or even proportion of mobile to desktop traffic.
So it is quite clear that even Google (and may be other search engines, too) is trying to put mobile users first. It is assessing the website based on the responsive web design (RWD), mobile URLs, and dynamic serving for configuration. However, it still ranks a website higher if it has great content for the search query (reminding you of the Hummingbird update).
Stats reveal what encouraged the launch of this update…
- In 2015, number of unique mobile users touched a figure of 3.65 billion. The trend will gather more momentum, as availability of cheaper handsets and affordable data connections increases around the world. [wearesocial.net]
- It’s worth highlighting that India’s web traffic is dominated by mobile devices. In 2015, share of web traffic/web page views via mobile reached a whopping 72%. [wearesocial.net]
- With 39% of all global mobile connections now classified as ‘broadband’ (i.e. 3G or 4G), the potential for faster mobile internet access has grown immensely in 2015 [wearesocial.net]
- In 2015, while the share of mobile phones and tablets surged to 38% for web pages served around the world, it declined by 13% for laptops and desktops [wearesocial.net]
- 74% of consumers wait for just about 5 seconds for a web page to load on their mobile device before abandoning the site, and 71% of them expect that these load as quickly as on their desktop computers. [Hubspot]
- On Internet, it is via mobile devices that 25% of searches are done. Worldwide business mobile devices are projected to grow to over 1.4 billion by 2016. [Radicati]
The message is clear: a non-mobile-friendly site may not attract many visitors but a mobile-friendly site does. So no matter what, every business has to navigate these new waters and create mobile-friendly websites. Whilst providing improved user experience and attracting visitors for more time, these drive more organic traffic that increases the probability of conversions. A few recommendations that will help businesses in not only building a great mobile site but take advantage of your mobile optimized website, especially from SEO perspective.
Use Responsive Design & High-res Images
#Help web developers create a site that is viewable on devices of different sizes.
#Adjusts layout according to visitor’s screen size and orientation
#High-resolution images are most apt for high-definition screens of latest models of iOS devices.
Work on Redirections
# Do not redirect visitors to the mobile websites homepage only. This is annoying, especially when trying to access a different link on the site.
# When not using responsive design, create a mobile equivalent to every URL or just let the users go to the page on the full site from their mobile device. Alternatively, include a “go to full website” or “view desktop version” option at the bottom of your site.
Page Speed
It is most likely that mobile users using 3G/4G networks, abandon a web page if it fails to load quickly. So, website performance is quite critical.
# Don’t let external JavaScript and CSS issues affect the rendering speed of your mobile pages. Make sure they render in a fraction of a second.
# Make the mobile web faster and optimize for mobile.
Interstitial Pages
Avoid using interstitials to promote your mobile apps and drive downloads. Google finds it as annoying as your mobile website visitors. In lieu, you may use a banner.
Videos
Let the videos on your site play on smartphones - use HTML5 standard tags, avoid Flash format and offer a transcript. If all that seems like an arduous task, simply use YouTube videos. The embed code on YouTube is already responsive.
Font sizes and Button size
Font size should be at least 14px while bigger the button, the better. It reduces the chances that the user will miss it or hit the wrong button by mistake.
Audit your site NOW… a mobile-friendly website is what consumers and search engines want and if you need any assistance, visit our website.
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