If that doesn't get your attention, consider the fact that "for Google, mobile comprised almost half of all traffic from June to November (2014), with 52 percent coming from desktops and 48 percent from mobile." (Source = ClickZ) So if your site isn't optimized for mobile, you're disappointing half of your site visitors. You're also letting your brand down: when people see a desktop site on a mobile device, it makes you look unprofessional.
Here are a few things to consider for your mobile optimization strategy.
Many responsive Content Management Systems automatically create versions of your website that are optimized for mobile phones and tablets. We recommend that you consider taking it one step further and customize your mobile site rather than letting the CMS do the design automatically.
We find that most times, the CMS will render a site that provides an acceptable user experience for mobile users, but could use a little improvement. We have a credo at our company that the details make the difference between a good site and a great site. We customize the mobile sites we design to provide a great user experience. Some of the details we optimize include:
For an example of how we optimize sites for mobile, the image below shows a side-by-side view of the Rapidan Inbound mobile and desktop sites. What you can't see in the image is that we've replaced the video on the homepage with an image on the mobile site for faster pageloads.
As you remember, we started this article by talking about Google's mobile algorithm update that was effective on April 21, 2015. We consider Google's test a "lowest common denominator"; our test for our mobile sites is much stricter. Regardless, there's an easy way to see if your site will be negatively impacted by the Google algorithm update. This is Google's mobile-friendly test, here's what you will see when you take it.
If you don't pass this test, contact us immediately! You will likely be penalized by Google.
The issues we discussed above are just some of the basic things to keep in mind as you optimize your mobile strategy. Depending on the type of site you have, here are some other things that you may want to think about.
If you're using the web to sell products and generate leads, your website can be a friend or a foe. To provide the best possible experience for users and maximize sales, you need to optimize your site for mobile. As stated previously, the details are what will separate you from your competition. Do you want to get a free mobile optimization assessment? Click on the banner below.