mobile-friendly websites - are they worth all the fuss?

Mobile-Friendly Websites - What’s All The Fuss About?

@givory

It’s the age of mobile, and your customers expect a GREAT mobile experience

Consider This….

More Google searches now take place on mobiles than on computers in 10 countries, including the US and

Japan (Source: Google, May 2015)

Consider This….

75% of users carry out product research on their mobile devices

Consider This….

In 2014 there was a 28% increase in mobile commerce

Consider This….

44% of mobile phone owners sleep with their phones next to their bed so they don’t miss a

message, call, or update

So with this in mind, Google

recently decided to get Mobile-

Serious!

On April 21st, it released its mobile algorithm “Mobilegeddon” - to much awe and

anticipation

What’s The New Google Mobile Algorithm About?

Google is trying to ensure that when users search for a term online, the results they are presented with

are for sites that are “optimised for their

devices”

Which means that sites which are not mobile-friendly may now rank lower (appear further down) in the mobile search results pages

For Example….Pizza Pat has a non-friendly mobile site.

A customer googles: “Dublin pizza”

For Example….Pizza Pat has a non-friendly mobile site.

A customer googles: “Dublin pizza”

PizzaPat appears at #5

on desktop search results

For Example….Pizza Pat has a non-friendly mobile site.

A customer googles: “Dublin pizza”

PizzaPat appears at #5

on desktop search results

But on smartphone search, Pizza

Pat ranks only #15

What’s ‘Mobile-Friendly’?Google has been specific. A mobile-friendly site:

Sizes content to the screen (without

zooming or rolling across)

Avoids software not common to mobile devices

e.g. Flash

Places links far enough apart so the correct one can be easily

tapped

Uses text readable without zooming

How Do I Know If My Site Is Or Isn’t?

Google has made it simple, providing a tool for testing

whether your site is mobile-friendly

It’s a pass or fail only, there’s no in between!

What Doesn't Pass?

The Tool Gives Tips For Improvements

What Other Tools Can I Use?

Though not specific to the new

algorithm, page speed is also a

ranking factor. The Google PageSpeed Insights tool will test this one for

you!

Top Tip

At Mobile Test Me you can also see

what your website looks like across a

range of mobile and tablet devices

Let’s Get A Few Things Straight

The algorithm changes apply only to search results on smartphones, not

tablets

If your site is not mobile-friendly, it won’t be delisted on mobile search

results, but will possibly appear at a lower page ranking

Changes apply to organic search results only, not to Adwords (paid advertising)

It applies on a page by page basis, so a mobile-friendly product page may still rank high, while a non-friendly home

page may not

What’s The Impact Of ‘Mobilegeddon’ So Far?

Figures from previous algorithms show ‘Panda’ hit 12% of searches in the UK

The ‘Penguin’ update affected about 4% of searches globally

But Mobilegeddon……this was expected to be HUGE

It’s been more of a bang than an explosion

So Far…….

BUT….it could be a slow roll out, so that may change

Because Google hyped the update in advance, many sites had already

been made mobile-friendly

And big brand losers since April

21st have included Reddit, NBC Sports

and Vogue

Slower to upgrade, it’s likely that SME’s will take the fall

So how do we get mobile-friendly?

Make text a minimum of 12px to be easily read

Make clickable buttons a minimum 7mm

height/width and place them far enough apart

all audio and video content is playable (avoid flash)

images are alt-tagged

images are closely cropped so detail shows on smaller screens

pages load quickly no fautly re-directs

Make Sure..

See Google for more information on

common mistakes

But there’s more

Depending on what type of site (or CMS) you have, you can choose a theme that’s

responsive

meaning..it dynamically resizes to fit the width of the device or browser it’s

being displayed on

Both Wordpress and Drupal also have plugins that will

make your site mobile friendly

But if you have a custom-built CMS or a static site, you’ll need a developer to

make changes for you

There are 3 different types of mobile sites, for more info visit Google’s developer pages

Remember

While mobile-friendliness is important

Remember

and its relevance to a search query, IS STILL KEY

and there are good ways and bad ways of writing

for mobile

Reading on mobile requires more

concentration, so bear a few tips in

mind

Use short paragraphs, the

‘one thought one paragraph’

principle applies

Cut out the unnecessary. It’s

not about reducing the length of copy,

but it must be concise

Load important information up

front, like a Call To Action button

Condense your titles

As I said…let them eat static!

For advice on going mobile-friendly contact info@ivorycontent.com www.ivorycontent.com

twitter: @givory