Create a mobile optimized site in 10 steps
Now that over 60% of internet searches are done on mobile, it is essential for a business to optimize its site for mobile. A site optimized for mobile does not have the same requirements as a website intended for computer use. Your website design is complete but you doubt its adaptability? Go to your website with your phone and observe. Is the navigation pleasant? are the links working correctly? Is essential information communicated clearly? If not, mobile optimization of your site should become your top priority. Here are 10 tips from our web designers to optimize a site for mobile.
What is a mobile optimized site?
Optimizing a website for mobile consists of adapting its structure, content, design and technical performance to offer an optimal user experience to mobile users. A mobile-optimized site adapts to different phone screen sizes to allow all mobile users to navigate smoothly and efficiently regardless of their device.
Why create a site optimized for mobile?
Between 2019 and 2020, 92% of Internet users connected to the web with a mobile device, which represents more than 4 billion people. Rest assured that your customers are a part of it too. To have visibility and generate sales with mobile users, your business must absolutely have a site optimized for mobile.
Smartphone users are generally more impatient and expect a quick and relevant response to their search. Without a site optimized for mobile, the user will not hesitate to leave your site to find an answer elsewhere. Indeed, a non-ergonomic site that looks badly does not make you want to stay there. Optimizing your site for mobile allows you to meet the demands of these intransigent Internet users and to obtain new customers.
How to create a site optimized for mobile?
Start by testing your mobile compatibility with the Google mobile friendly test. Creating a mobile website is very different from a desktop site. It is necessary to know the key elements of success before starting to optimize your site for mobile. Keep one thing in mind, you must aim for simplicity in all the actions you take. Here are 10 tips to optimize a site for mobile.
1. SIMPLIFY YOUR STRUCTURE
A mobile screen is smaller than that of a computer, so you need to review the organization of your information in order to optimize a mobile site. The aim is to make essential information appear as clearly as possible. You can do this:
Use one to two columns of text.
Reduce the number of pages on your site by determining which pages of a website are essential for your business.
Create a compact navigation menu.
Integrate a more visible search bar.
Differentiate your content areas with empty spaces.
2. OPTIMIZE YOUR IMAGES
In order to create a mobile optimized site, the images used need to be adjusted. Once again, we must aim for simplicity by selecting relevant and well-placed images. For this, our site designers advise you to adjust the size of your images so that they do not hide the text. This would force your internet user to scroll down for information. Consider optimizing your images for SEO by incorporating Alt tags and choosing relevant file names.
3. REDUCE YOUR CHARGING TIME
Improving the speed of your website is a key point in optimizing a site for mobile. Every fraction of a second counts, because your site’s load speed is the first thing your visitor rates. Google estimates that after 3 seconds of loading, the chance of a bounce is 32%, that’s a third of your potential customers who leave! Keep in mind that mobile users are often more in a hurry than computer users. In order to increase your load speed and optimize your mobile website, here is what you can do:
Start by checking the loading speed of your website. The free Google Page Speed tool will allow you to test your pages.
4. ADAPT YOUR CONTENT
A mobile-optimized site should offer synthetic, clear and concise content. Forget about big paragraphs and super-detailed explanations on the pages of your site. Here are some actions to take to adapt its content to the mobile version:
Reduce the length of your texts by targeting essential information.
Choose a simple font and avoid changing fonts.
5. BET ON THE LOCAL
When a user performs a search on Google, the search engine takes proximity into account when displaying results. If you live in Montreal and are looking for a hairdresser, you wouldn’t want to get an address in Beijing. Local SEO is therefore essential regardless of the device used. It is even more important when it comes to optimizing a site for mobile because 30% of mobile searches are local. To improve your local SEO, it is good to:
Create a company account with Google MyBusines, fill in your information (address, hours, contact) and remember to activate customer reviews and add images.
6. OPTIMIZE YOUR SITE FOR SEO
While local SEO (Search Engince Optimization) is crucial, it is not enough to get your mobile-optimized site to rank well on the web. Optimizing your site for mobile via the actions listed above can already improve your SEO. But you can go the extra mile to maximize its effectiveness.
Build a successful SEO strategy by spending time on your keyword research, writing optimized content and adding relevant visuals.
Adjust your content for voice search, often in the form of long and precise questions by writing with a question / answer structure. This should not be overlooked when we know that 55% of consumers have already used voice search to find a local business.
7. AVOID CLASSIC MISTAKES
To make your site optimized for mobile, you need to avoid a few common pitfalls. Here are some examples of mistakes to avoid when optimizing your site for mobile.
Use intrusive banner ads or interstitial banners. While they work well on computers, they are harmful on mobile because they take up the entire screen and hide the content.
Providing long and exhaustive forms may tire your visitor who is often in a hurry. On mobile, try to shorten your forms or facilitate contact in another way if you can (email, phone).
Write long, detailed and poorly cut texts. If a paragraph is readable on a computer screen, it will not be readable on a phone unless its format is adjusted.
Not compressing your images will hurt your site’s loading speed and increase your bounce rate.
Using Adobe Flash for your visuals should be avoided because the software is not compatible with all mobile devices.
8. FORGET ABOUT THE SEPARATE MOBILE SITE
It is possible to create a site optimized for mobile through several techniques. The first and oldest is to optimize your mobile site by creating a separate mobile site. The idea is to create a second site exclusively for mobile use. In addition to requiring you to manage two sites at the same time, this technique comes with its share of disadvantages:
Increased risk of duplicate content between the computer and mobile site
Risk of computer users arriving on the mobile site and vice versa
Your site will not be considered suitable for “mobile first”, criteria of the Google Index.
If you want to optimize a site for mobile, our web designers strongly recommend that you choose one of the following 2 options.
9. THINK MOBILE FIRST
When creating your website, you can use the “mobile first” design to make your site optimized for mobile. This technique involves designing your website from the mobile version, then adapting it to tablets and computers. By doing so, you are sure to design a mobile optimized site. This approach is very useful but not necessary to optimize your site for mobile. Ask yourself the question, are your customers more mobile than computer? If so, “mobile-first” is a very good solution. Otherwise, adaptive design will be your best ally.
9. THINK MOBILE FIRST
When creating your website, you can use the “mobile first” design to make your site optimized for mobile. This technique involves designing your website from the mobile version, then adapting it to tablets and computers. By doing so, you are sure to design a mobile optimized site. This approach is very useful but not necessary to optimize your site for mobile. Ask yourself the question, are your customers more mobile than computer? If so, “mobile-first” is a very good solution. Otherwise, adaptive design will be your best ally.
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CONCLUSION
The mobile adaptation of a site is vital to your web strategy. Not only because Google places it in its indexing criteria, but above all to provide a quality user experience to your customers. Well done! You have reached the end of this article. Now you know how to optimize a site for mobile, all you have to do is take action by creating your mobile optimized site. If you have any questions about this, our website design team in Montreal will be happy to answer you.
