Mobile device web browsing has been steadily growing over the years and continues to trend upwards. According to Statista, Q1 in 2021 saw 54.8% of all web traffic coming from mobile devices, with that number even excluding tablets. As mobile use continues to grow, websites have started to adopt a “mobile-first” design approach in order to produce optimal user experiences for those customers using their mobile device. 

Did you know that when Google crawls a website for content and to determine where it will fall in its search rankings, it scans the mobile version of the site first now? Google utilizes mobile-first indexing and has stated that all sites moving forward will be indexed this way as of March 2021. So now, more than ever, it’s critical that your sites are optimized for mobile and deliver an enjoyable user experience for your mobile customers. 

Here are some tips to optimize your website for mobile: 

1. Make It Responsive
   The growth in mobile browsing isn’t slowing down any time soon. It’s critical for a site to be mobile responsive in order to display correctly across varying device sizes. As technology continues to innovate, responsive web design allows your designs to adapt to whatever screen size the user is currently on. This saves your website from having to load a completely different site for a mobile user or delivering a poor user experience, which can ultimately hurt your ranking in Google.
   
   
2. Optimize Speed for Mobile
   Google recommends a 5 second load time for mobile speeds in order to boost conversions on your website. Every additional second of load time for your website can cost you customers or money. Google Pagespeed Insights is a critical tool to use and can give you direct feedback on your site’s mobile performance with specific steps on how to improve and optimize it. Creating a fast and responsive mobile site can help retain users and avoid them getting frustrated and leaving.

3. Ditch the Popups
   In 2018, Google started cracking down on sites that inhibit the mobile user experience and ranking them lower on the search results page. This means if a site’s content is covered initially by a pop-up on mobile, it could potentially be ranked lower by Google. It’s important to follow Google’s suggestions on how to properly display pop-ups on a mobile site by taking up less than 15% of the page with the pop-up or just leaving it out altogether.

4. Think Top Down
   You don’t have a lot of space to work with when you’re trying to design and layout content on a mobile device. Make the most of your content layout by putting the most important information at the top of the page so users can find what they need quickly on your site. Be sure to test out your layouts for mobile and ensure that critical content is placed above the fold for your customers.
   
   
5. Condense Menus
   Although your extensive navigation with multiple levels and extra content for clarification might be useful for a desktop user, it’s important to condense your menus for mobile. Clean, straightforward menus are key to making your mobile site easy to navigate for your users. Consider the use of on-page menus if you need to allow for multiple navigation levels to keep your customer journey as simple as possible. 
   
   

Mobile responsive web design isn’t going anywhere and mobile use continues to grow as technology continues to advance each year. Keep your company ahead of the game by creating a mobile-first design or utilizing these tips to make your site more mobile-friendly for your customers. Are you not sure if your web design is cutting it? Check out my last post on my tips to assess your web design.