In the past, Google would use the desktop as the primary version for indexing. But, with a staggering 3.7 billion mobile internet users in the world, it’s no surprise that as of 2021, all websites are now subject to mobile-first indexing. In other words, search engines predominantly use the mobile version of a website when evaluating a page.
So, if you want to boost your Google rankings and provide your mobile users an experience they will cherish, remember and come back to, your website needs to act accordingly. That’s where mobile optimization comes in.
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What Is Mobile Optimization?
A website’s flexibility across all devices is where the term “mobile optimization” comes into play. Mobile optimization is the process of ensuring that visitors who access your website from mobile devices have an engaging and user-friendly experience optimized for that device.
Even though most people spend their time on their mobile devices, many websites still aren’t designed to account for different screen sizes and load times. Mobile optimization takes a look at site design, structure, page speed, and more to make sure you’re not inadvertently turning your mobile visitors away.
Mobile Optimization vs Mobile-Friendly: What’s the difference?
A mobile-optimized website is a far more advanced one. A mobile-friendly website will just shrink the size of its pages to be viewable on mobile, but will not be optimized or designed in a way that drives mobile conversions and user engagement. A mobile-optimized website provides bigger navigation buttons, reformatted content, and optimized images that will appear when the site identifies that the user is on a mobile device.
Instead of simply compressing and slightly rearranging the content on the screen, by implementing mobile optimization you design the entire experience for smaller screen users.
The Importance of Mobile Optimization: Why You Need to Go Mobile
In this digital era and technologically advanced world, mobile optimization is paramount to help you target (and win over!) a wider audience. Thus, high-quality mobile optimization of your website is a critical step in the mobile-first era. Optimizing for mobile encompasses the entire customer experience, and when done properly, it compliments every interaction a customer has with your brand.
Here are some of the reasons why mobile optimization should be your priority when building websites:
Everyone’s There!
52.2% of all worldwide web traffic is generated through mobile phones. Additionally, 80% of all internet users are using a smartphone. Between 15 and 70 % of emails are opened on mobile devices. Mobile search has overtaken desktop for most industries. And, that’s a lot of mobile traffic that can be converted into leads and conversions.
Mobile Users Act Differently
Mobile users are mostly consuming visual media, primarily through videos and images. Having different viewing habits creates yet another opportunity to engage potential customers beyond their desktops by leveraging mobile optimization.
Conversions
Not following mobile best practices can be a costly risk when it comes to mobile conversion rates. It all boils down to friction. If a customer has to work harder than necessary to achieve a goal, it makes them want to avoid the experience entirely. Tiny buttons, endless scrolling, and unclear form fields create hassles that often result in abandonment. People won’t wait for a slow page to load or spend hours trying to figure out how to get what they need.
Google now hands out some significant penalties for any websites failing to meet their standards for mobile optimization. And as we all should know by now, your business needs to be best friends with Google – the world’s leading search engine.
Benefits of High-Quality Mobile Optimization
With the ever-evolving technologies and the constant launching of mobile devices, it’s crucial to ensure that your website is mobile-optimized. That said, here are all the benefits you will reap with mobile optimization:
1. SERP Ranking
With so many people browsing on mobile, Google and other search engines must prioritize the devices that most of its visitors are using. They also base their ranking on users’ activities and time spent on a site, among other factors. When users don’t bounce out of your webpage using their mobile devices, it’s a big plus. A mobile-optimized website increases the likelihood of users engaging and thus, spending more time on your website.
If you want Google to serve your content to its users and win them over, you need a website that’s well-optimized for mobile.
2. Credibility and reputation
If you truly want to build your brand’s credibility and reputation and rank high in SERPs – you need to start mobile-optimizing your website. When users try to access your site via their mobile devices and problems occur, that will speak volumes about the effectiveness of your company. However, if they are satisfied, they will trust your brand even more. And we all know trust drives traffic, loyalty, and revenue.
3. Improved User Experience & Customer Satisfaction
User experience is essential. If you don’t provide a good user experience, visitors will leave and won’t return. The goal of mobile optimization is to keep your users satisfied while navigating through your website, no matter the device they use. Happy users are the ones that will come back time and time again, and most likely convert. To do that, they need to be able to read your web pages with ease on mobile devices.
4. Attract more local customers
Mobile SEO is also extremely important for local SEO. Many people will perform search queries on the go when they are looking for a specific business in the area. If they are near your physical location and find your website while doing a mobile search, they’re more likely to drop in and make a purchase. So, mobile optimization improves your ability to attract local customers, as well.
Mobile Optimization Best Practices: How to Improve the Mobile Experience?
Now that we’ve covered some of the most important aspects of mobile optimization, how can you put them into practice? Creating a strong mobile user experience requires you to make sure all your web content is ready for this possibility.
If you feel your company may be lagging behind the mobile curve, here are the basic mobile optimization tactics you can utilize:
Adopt a responsive design
While you can change up your existing desktop website design to be more mobile-friendly, a responsive website is a real key to user-friendly content viewing. No matter the mobile devices used, the website will automatically adjust your content to accommodate the size of the screen it is being displayed on.
Use Structured Data
Structured data allows Google and other search engines to display rich snippets. A rich snippet is a piece of Schema markup (HTML code) that you add to your website to give search engines more information. It’s also how some websites appear in the SERPs with star ratings and other details.
Compress Images and Use Videos
Large image files slow down page speed and make your website “heavier.” Compressing your images can help avoid these problems on mobile devices. If you’re using a separate URL for your mobile users, consider uploading different, smaller images. That way, graphics won’t overwhelm the screen or cause frustrating loading delays. Videos can also help engage your visitors visually and aurally without disrupting your site’s design or the consumer’s experience.
Forget About Flash
Flash elements slow down your website and rarely render well on mobile devices. Neither Android nor iPhone operating system supports it, so if your website relies on it, people won’t be able to interact with your business online.
Optimizing Your Website In the Mobile-First Era
With the arrival of mobile giants and Google’s mobile-first index, implementing your cross-platform, cross-device, and cross-compatible website has now reached massive priority. Mobile devices now dominate the online space and the role they play in today’s digital world will likely keep growing as mobile usage continues to skyrocket.
By implementing key mobile optimization tactics and strategies, marketers can deliver exceptional experiences through every channel and every device.
So, if you haven’t yet made the jump to mobile, it’s high time you did!