How to be sure your website is not just Mobile-Friendly but fully Mobile-Useable

By Kerri Marvel
several devices with the google search page showing

Why is this important?

Because more and more people are using smartphones to do internet searches, and if your website isn’t Mobile Useable, your business has a much lower chance to even be seen.

The primary reason why your site needs to be mobile-friendly is so you can deliver a great user experience to everyone who visits your site. A website that has been designed as “Mobile-Responsive” typically means that it is ready for viewing on multiple sizes of mobile devices (from desktop screens to laptops to tablets to smartphones). But in today’s digital world, this is only half of the solution.

This article will show you multiple methods how to get Mobile-Useable.

Some Mobile Statistics 

  • Google commands a staggering 95.2% of the global mobile search engine market.
    (By comparison, Bing was next, holding 3.1%. Other search engines, like Yandex (1.5%), Yahoo! (1.2%), Baidu (1.1%), and DuckDuckGo (0.5%), had smaller market shares. Google search stats from January to August 2023 show the vast difference between Google and others.)
  • In the U.S., smartphone traffic make up 60.4% of all internet search.
    (Desktop users accounted for 37.2%, and tablet users made up 2.5% of the traffic.)
  • The graphic below shows, first of all, that out of all internet searches, a user makes a decision on their next step within 5 seconds or less. And secondly, mobile users decide quicker than desktop users.

chart showing how quickly website users choose their next step

 

  • 58% of U.S. consumers aged 25-34 engage in voice search daily and 43% of consumers aged 55 and above use voice search on a weekly basis, with 16% of all utilizing voice search for “Near me” searches.
  • For SEO purposes, content length matters. The average web page hovered between 2,000 and 2,500 words. Blog posts exceeding 2,500 words not only ranked higher but also garnered more social media shares. Content stretching beyond 3,000 words saw even better results. (Such posts garnered 3x more traffic, 4x more shares, and 3.5 more backlinks compared to average-length content).
  • A complete Business Profile on Google Search and Maps significantly influences consumer perceptions. For instance, customers are 2.7 times more likely to view a business as reputable if they come across a comprehensive profile. (Furthermore, businesses with complete profiles see a 70% increase in visits. These businesses also experience a 50% rise in purchase considerations.)
  • In fact, Google search stats reveal that their own Google Review platform is the most trusted for reviews across various industries (2022 stats).

 

chart showing trust factor by percentage comparing Google, Yelp and others

 

 

All Statistics in this section - Source: Techopedia.com’s (full report)

Mobile-friendly is no longer a “nice to have,” it’s a “must have.

 

Making your website as mobile-friendly as possible is crucial in today's digital landscape, where a significant portion of web traffic comes from mobile devices.

Since their 2015 algorithm update (known as MobileGeddon), and their 2018 algorithm update for a “mobile-first mentality”, Google has given you even more incentive to optimize your site for mobile. Mobile-friendliness is a ranking factor, so if your web pages and blog posts (and your images and videos) are not optimized for mobile, your business may not be included in mobile search rankings or results. Blatant signs of an unfriendly website may include having to pinch, zoom and scroll to read website pages, or having to work hard to tap on links and buttons. When this happens too much to your viewer, they may bounce off your site and go on to the next.

In order to qualify for Google’s “Mobile-friendly” tag, a website has to meet the following basic criteria:

  • Avoids software that is not common on mobile devices, such as Flash
  • Uses text that is readable without zooming
  • Sizes content to the screen so users don’t have to scroll (except down)
  • Places links far enough apart so that the correct one can be easily tapped

 

Here is Google’s full list of (technical) best practices for mobile websites for you curious ones.

From an SEO perspective, the main takeaway is a simple one....

if you want your website to be as discoverable and as accessible as possible, you need to make sure your site is mobile-friendly/usable.

Steps to take to get your website Mobile-Usable

 

The first step is simply to test your current site using Google’s mobile test.

https://search.google.com/test/mobile-friendly.

The result will show ‘Page is Useable on Mobile’, or ‘Not mobile-friendly’ with some reasons why not. Running the test directly from Google’s Search Console will provide more details on errors and how to fix them.

Now that you’ve run the mobile-friendly test, you know (hopefully) that your website is considered mobile-FRIENDLY by Google. What are some best practices that you can do to make your site as mobile-USEABLE as possible?

  • An SSL Certificate is an absolute must – if you don’t have this, your website won’t be included in search results.
  • The mobile site should use the same URL (domain name) as the desktop version.
  • Optimize Page Titles and Meta Descriptions to display in search results. WordPress plugins like Yoast or AIOSEO can help with this. These plugins also have built-in tutorials.
  • Having a popup on desktops is fine, but it’s best to avoid them on mobile.
  • Provide high-resolution images (but small overall file sizes).
  • All images should have alt-text – alt-text is searchable, and thus adds to SEO.
  • Use a clean and concise navigation menu with easily tappable links or buttons. Consider using the ‘hamburger’ icon (three horizontal lines) for a compact mobile menu.
  • As mentioned above, text should be readable without zooming in. But also, the font should be easily legible and in appropriate sizes. Avoid long paragraphs and use subheadings to break up content. Maintain comfortable line spacing (line height) for improved readability.
  • Buttons and links should be large enough to tap with a finger, and spaced adequately to prevent accidental clicks on adjacent buttons and links.
  • Avoid placing only the words “Click Here” on buttons and links. Instead, be specific with what the website viewer gets when they click.
  • Be sure any forms on your website have mobile-friendly input fields (not too small).
  • Additionally, if your target customer is local, your website should be optimized for Local Mobile SEO. Linked to this, is to leverage review sites, like Google Reviews, Yelp, and Facebook Reviews. Join local chambers and get added into directories.
  • The mobile version of a website can have slower load times than the desktop version. Use a tool like Google’s PageSpeed Insights or GTmetrix to identify and fix performance issues. Google’s is free. GTmetrix has a free version, but you’ll need to set up an account.

In Summary

Look at your own website on your smartphone – do any of the elements stick out in a strange way? Many of these types of oddities can be fixed, though this is somewhat limited to what can be accessed within the website’s theme.

By following the steps outlined above and regularly reviewing your website’s mobile performance, you can create a positive mobile user experience, and ensure that your site remains accessible and engaging for your mobile visitors, as well as desktop visitors.

So, is YOUR site fully mobile-useable?

Not sure? I can help. Contact KMS today!

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About Kerri Marvel

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