You’re probably noticing an ever-increasing amount of mobile-based traffic in your analytic reports. The future of internet use is going to be more mobile than desktop based and this is going to be reflected in SEO and website design techniques in the coming years. If you’re a designer or web marketer then it’s high time you asked yourself how to make your site mobile-friendly.
If you haven’t made your site mobile-friendly yet, then it’s a good time to start because it’s only a matter of time before Google started penalizing sites that don’t cater to mobile users. Matt Cutts made it clear which way the wind was blowing in a recent keynote speech. You probably already receive at least 20% of your traffic from mobile users and you can expect this to increase.
According to the Bright Edge Mobile Share Report, mobile traffic increased by 125% while desktop growth was at only 12%. That doesn’t mean you can neglect old-fashioned desktop SEO because mobile internet users convert at only 1/3 the rate of desktop users. It is often the case that users will first hit your website with a smartphone, even if they return later via desktop. You might think the best way to respond is by building an app, but it’s not always that simple. Having a mobile-ready site need not necessarily involve wasting lots of money on designing apps. These are really handy tips for making your site mobile ready:
Conversion isn’t everything mobile users behave differently, and you need to measure success differently.
In terms of pop-ups, less is more. You may want users to use an app, but don’t annoy them by pushing it too hard.
Keep the design clean. Making the text clear, with big buttons (easy to hit for chubby fingers) and most importantly clear and bold call to action, will pay off big time in terms of mobile traffic.
Mobile users keep different hours. People access the internet via mobile at all times of the day and night.
You should also take a look at EDM’s top 5 Mobile SEO tips. It’s important to remember the new types of search terms favored by mobile users. You can now enter sequences of interrelated searches to Google via your phone, in the form of questions and you can even use voice search if your smartphone has that option. Mobile-based voice searches are going to be ever more commonplace as technology improves and it’s likely that Google will reflect these changing habits. You should try to jump on this trend sooner rather than later.
