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