SEO for Mobile

Look around and you’re likely to find someone on their mobile searching for a place; texting a friend or browsing their emails or the internet – and is it any wonder?

On this simple device, you can find everything you need without having to nip home or to the office to jump on a computer. Mobiles make life easier, and as such more and more businesses are embracing the need to make their websites mobile friendly, to ensure that they stay at the top of their game. 

So what can you do? How can you mobile optimise your website whilst keeping on top of your SEO marketing?

Below, we’ll show you all the tricks to mobile optimisation whilst enabling you to employ the finest SEO strategies.

What is mobile optimisation?

You’d be surprised how many websites are not built to handle different screen sizes or load times, and as such struggle to translate onto mobiles.

Mobile optimisation aims to look at your web design, site structure, page speed and more, to ensure your website opens smoothly on mobiles and doesn’t inadvertently deter visitors.

How can I employ SEO onto mobile websites?

You don’t have to completely redesign your website to optimise it for mobile. In fact, make a few additional changes to your website and you can make it mobile ready in no time:

• Page speed – to prevent slower speeds, you’ll need to do more than optimising your images. You’ll also need to minify your code, leverage browser caching and reduce redirects.
• CSS, JavaScript and images – DO NOT block these. Whilst in the past mobile devices couldn’t support these, this is no longer the case so you don’t need to hide them. If anything you want them on show, so Google can recognise whether you have a responsive site or are using a mobile solution.
• Site designs – ‘above the fold’ no longer applies in a world where it is easy to scroll through websites, so bear this in mind within your site designs as mobile devices can help simplify the process.
• Don’t use Flash – you can’t guarantee that this plugin is available on your user’s phone which can create viewing complications. Instead, use HTML 5 to create any special effects you may require.
• Don’t use pop-ups – these are not easy to close on mobiles, and the last thing you want users to associate your site with is being frustrating as this will lead to increased bounce rates.
• Consider hand size – don’t make your buttons too big or too small as this can lead to accidental clicks whilst they are using their touch screens.
• Optimise titles and meta-descriptions – remember mobile screens are vastly smaller than desktops so to best show off your work, aim to be concise where possible - without sacrificing on the quality of information - when creating titles, URLs and meta-descriptions.
• Use Schema.org structured data – your screen space is limited so it is essential to use snippets of rich content so you can stand out on search engines just as strongly as you would on a desktop.
• Local search – if your business has a local element, you’ll need to incorporate this into the optimisation of your mobile. This can be achieved by standardising your name, address and phone number, as well as including the city you’re based in and adding these to your site's metadata.
• Configuration – when creating a website, one of the first decisions you’ll make is whether you want to use responsive, dynamic service or separate site configurations. Whilst all 3 have their advantages and are supported by Google, Google is more attuned to responsive designs so we suggest going for this option.
• Responsive web design – the great thing about responsive web design is that they use CSS3 media queries to serve the same content to mobile users as desktop users, without having to sacrifice on quality. Instead, its flexible designs will allow your site to adapt to your users' screen size and relay all the information you want.
• Separate mobile URL – if you haven’t got the resources for a complete re-design, then creating a second site for your mobile users is an option. This will allow you to customise your content towards mobile users; however it must be noted that even if you use an ‘m’ subdomain to avoid URL confusion, there is still a risk that your visitors won’t be sent to the right version. As such you’ll need to make it is easy for them to switch i.e. site redirects.

Yet this is not all you will need to consider if you’re serious about establishing a mobile website. For instance, if you don’t make Google fully aware that you have a mobile site, it won’t be able to recognise it as mobile friendly. 

To help optimise your site for mobile we also suggest updating your website code using themes and templates on StudioPress, WordPress, Theme Forest or Creative Market, whilst also doing the following:

• Configuring the viewport and sizing content
• Avoiding interstitial ads
• Using legible font sizes
• Avoiding plugins 

Put all of these into practice and it is possible to make your website mobile friendly, implement SEO and achieve the rankings you want. Just remember to do them with care and with ease.

www.01seo.co.uk