With more than half of all searches coming from mobile devices, it’s now imperative for business websites to be mobile-optimized. To encourage websites to make the change, Google has announced that they will prioritize search engine results for content shown on a website’s mobile version in a process called mobile-first indexing.
This means that if Google’s crawlers don’t see a mobile-optimized version of your website, it can negatively impact your ranking on search engine results pages! Unless you’re a web developer yourself, making your website mobile-friendly is a job best left for professionals.
That being said, there’s nothing wrong with knowing more about what a mobile-friendly website should look and feel like. Here are five of the best practices for optimizing your website for mobile-friendliness:
1 – Reduce page load times
The leaps and bounds that mobile devices have made in terms of processing power and connectivity are what make mobile content very pervasive today. However, they are still a ways back from full-fledged desktop computer systems. The problem compounds because of user behavior; in fact, research suggests that half of all mobile users will leave a website if it takes more than three seconds to load completely!
To retain visitors, good mobile sites need to minify code, optimize images, and reduce the number of redirects. Additionally, you’ll also want to take advantage of browser caching to reduce page load times.
2 – Enable CSS, Javascript, and images
Back in the earliest days of mobile connectivity (think 3G and lower), webmasters disabled CSS, Javascript, and images to save on data and decrease page load times. Most of the time, mobile websites blocked all three—which left just the text. While this was hardly the best user experience, the speed limitations of the time made it necessary.
With modern advances made to the smartphone, blocking the website’s visual aspects is no longer necessary. In fact, it can even hurt your search engine rankings! For the best results, ensure that your webpage content is displaying all elements correctly through repetitive testing.
3 – Get rid of flash content
Flash content had its heyday during the 2000s as a medium to display online multimedia content. Nowadays, the software is on a dying run and is due to be replaced by HTML5. By modern standards, it is incredibly outdated and is no longer compatible with many web browsers.
By January 2021, Google Chrome is set to pull the plug completely. If your website is still playing Flash content, get rid of them immediately as it may be causing slowdowns and compatibility issues with mobile devices.
4 – Consider fat fingers
The hallmark of any good design is greater ease of access. This means designing for many types of people in mind and finding a happy medium that lets different groups use your design effectively.
One of the most crucial features in making a mobile-friendly website is to design with fatter fingers in mind. In a nutshell, designing for fat fingers means creating icons that are big enough for fat fingers to tap without leading to accidental clicks!
5 – Get rid of pop-ups
Pop-up windows work on a desktop because there is more screen real estate. On smaller screens, however, they can be a nuisance and even make your whole website unusable. A competent web designer will find ways to incorporate content without resorting to pop-ups.
Conclusion
Mobile websites are a necessity to compete in this day and age. Without a mobile version, your search engine rankings can suffer, and many potential customers won’t be able to access your website. Worse, the people who do end up accessing your website can’t use it effectively from their mobile devices. To earn more traction and a healthy return on investment, bite the bullet, and get a website designer to make you a mobile-friendly version today!
Are you looking for a creative agency in San Francisco to help you with mobile-optimize your business website? Cyrusson provides digital advertising services in San Francisco. Our services include digital ad campaigns, search engine optimization, reputation management, and more. Contact us today to learn more.