It’s written in stone – you’re site needs to be mobile friendly.

60% of search is now over mobile and you need to make sure that your website can be used across all mobile devices including iPads and tablets. With this shift in change of behaviour, Google now has two search engines in which it will rank your website, one for desktop and one mobile. If you google any keywords on mobile you will see the mobile friendly test – see image below from Search Engine Land

There are many ways you can make your website mobile friendly and here are some necessities:

1 – Make Your Navigation Mobile Friendly

You will find many of the sites nowadays have 3 lines to indicate the mobile friendly version of a navigation bar, usually this will be below 990px to incorporate for iPads and tablets.

2 – Make Images and Galleries Easy To View

Make sure you images respond down for mobile and tablet and can be easily viewed from a mobile device. Usually best to work in columns and make sure you design your page around the columns.

3 – Font Sizes

You don’t want huge fonts taking up all the space so best to have your fonts right. Using the right H1,H2,H3 Tags that work across desktop and mobile is crucial for Google to pass your site in the mobile friendly test.

4 – No Flash

You don’t want flash content. Is there any more to say about this?

5 – Videos to be backed up with images

If you are using video on your desktop versions then you’ll need to back these up with images for mobile. Page loads for websites on mobile are heavy and even with 4G can make your site speed very slow. Also, iPhones and other androids may not even play the video altogether, so play it safe and back up with an image.

6 – Use RWD – (Responsive Web Design)

This is becoming more and more common in smaller sites as there is no real requirement for a separate mobile site. Making your site responsive is a simple and clear cut way to make your website mobile friendly. Also, you won’t have to maintain two websites if you have an m. version of your website.

7 – Site Speed

This follows on from point 5, you need to make sure your page loads are quick and easy for mobile networks so staying clear of heavy videos, long image galleries would be the way forward. Use things like pagination on pages with serious amounts of content.

8 – Install Google Analytics

Finally, install analytics and check out the mobile hits coming to your site. You can see the bounce rate and the most common paths coming to your site. With this information you can stay on top of your mobile site and maintain it’s health. Also, ask your developer to submit the site to webmaster tools.

uMarketeers are a national pay monthly website provider for small to medium businesses throughout the UK. If you are looking for help with your digital marketing then get in touch with us today.