With the emphasis that search engines are now putting on fast load times and good user experience for mobile, it’s more important than ever to make sure that your website design is up to par. Google in particular has shown just how important mobile search is to them through increasing mobile ranking signals, adding mobile friendly labels, accelerated mobile changes to name just a few changes. As mobile traffic is now so crucial you should know how your site measures up and how you can improve it by following these 4 ways to ensure your site is truly mobile friendly.
Auto-play videos are a pain for mobile users, especially when they are not connected to Wifi. It slows down page load speeds and can irritate users by automatically eating through their data allowance. If you want a video on the mobile version of your site, just make sure auto-play is turned off.
When using a mobile device people have to use their fingers which are usually quite a bit less accurate and larger than a mouse cursor. Coupling this with the fact the screen is tiny in comparison to that of a laptop or monitor means that it can be difficult to hit the right button or link. Take a look at your site on a mobile device and see how easy it is to click on all of the buttons and links without accidentally pressing anything else. If it’s a difficult or impossible task, then space out your buttons and text a bit more until you find the sweetspot.
Another thing to check your site for is how legible the font is. If your font is too small it can make life difficult for users when they are trying to use your content, requiring them to pinch to zoom in. Google recommends a baseline of 16px. You can setup your viewport to automatically adjust font sizes to the correct proportions.
If you are unsure whether or not your page is mobile friendly at all, Google has a developed the mobile friendly test. All you have to do is enter your domain name and hit analyze, you will then be told whether your site is mobile friendly or not. Keep in mind however this is only a basic test and should be used in conjunction with the previously mentioned measures.
Ensure your site is mobile friendly by making sure videos don’t auto-play for mobile users, it’s easy for users to individually press the buttons and links, use legible font sizes and take Google’s mobile friendly test. If your site isn’t mobile friendly and you are unsure of how you can improve it, we would be happy to help you. Visit us online today.