Has it ever happened to you that you searched for something on Google using your smartphone and the result website was barely readable and the navigation was way too small to use your fingers? This usually happens when the visited website was not mobile optimized.
Why you should optimize a website for mobile devices
Anyone on the go with a smartphone wants to be able to access information quickly and easily. Slow and poorly usable pages can be very frustrating. Both for the smartphone users, as well as for the website owners. This is because high bounce rates and poor Google rankings are usually the direct result of such a web situation. Visitors disappear quite quickly or won't even click on those search results in the future. Google already rates mobile optimized pages better than desktop-only versions. In the future, the search engine will emphasize mobile-optimized websites even more in the search results. And it will do so with a "mobile-friendly" text (Source):
Take the test: Is your website mobile optimized?
You can visit the specially created website of Google testwhether your website has been optimized for smartphones and tablets. With this measure, Google makes it clear how important a modern and smartphone-optimized website is. Because the number of mobile visitors is constantly increasing and website operators who do without the adaptation risk a worse ranking in Google search results.
What makes a website mobile friendly
We have summarized for you five important criteria that are must-haves for a website in the age of smartphones:
1. pagespeed - unfortunately it does not work without it
Almost everyone who runs their own website has heard about how important loading times are for Google. But making everything perfect in coding is a fine art - that's why most web designers are very willing to compromise. Most smartphone users are usually on the go and maybe even in a hurry. They want to access information as quickly as possible. 40 % of users abandon if a web page takes longer than 3 seconds to load (Source).
2. responsive layout - a matter of course
Anyone who surfs with a smartphone knows: There is nothing worse than content that cannot be displayed on the mobile screen. Too small, too distorted: If the website does not have a layout that adapts to the screen size of the end device, it will soon lose a lot of users (and also customers).
3. pay attention to user intent - because close is also over
The smartphone has fundamentally changed the behavior of Internet users: They search for information quickly and specifically. Anyone who can't answer the question that the smartphone user is asking will very soon slide down in the Google search results.
The user will not have the patience to wander for a long time through confusing navigations or to decipher the logic of a page by himself - therefore the website should have a clear, simple and logical structure that makes it easy for the user to get to the desired result.
4. minimalist design - less is more
A mobile site should not look cluttered. Firstly, because mobile users, as I said, are looking specifically for information and have little patience for distractions. Secondly, because content also (can) worsen loading times. And thirdly, because it causes effort to capture content on a smaller screen anyway. That's why the golden rule for mobile optimized websites is: Less is more.
5. thumbs up - follow the rule of thumb
A warning signal that a website has not been optimized for mobile devices: Buttons cannot be clicked with the thumb. Either because several buttons are too close together or because the button is simply too small. All clickable areas of a website should therefore be easily accessible with a thumb.
Do you need help?
You will find on this website some articles about the Mobile web design. If you are interested in a mobile internet presence, please contact us. Contact with us, we will be happy to advise you. As it turns out, a website optimized for smartphones is already a first step towards successful SEO (Search Engine Optimization).