Consequently, any business needs to be targeting these mobile users and making sure that their website is properly optimised to this section of the market. Google has been aware of this market trend for some time and, back in 2015, adapted its search algorithm to promote websites that provided a quality user experience on mobile devices.
Small screens, big impact
There are several differences between browsing the internet on a desktop or laptop and doing the same thing on a tablet or smartphone. If you’ve ever browsed a non-optimised site on your phone you’ll see that the text is almost unreadable as it attempts to cram an entire web page into a much smaller area. The difference is more than just a visual one, however. Most mobile internet browsers are unable to handle pop-ups, for instance. Those that are tend to replace the existing window with the new one, and it’s not always obvious how to find the previous page. This can be confusing and frustrating to a potential customer and needs to be avoided. Likewise, alt-text – the hidden text you sometimes find when you hover your mouse over a certain part of the screen (often an image) – is useless in a mobile environment, as you can’t hover with your thumb.
Issues with load times, which we’ve already discussed, are exacerbated by mobile devices since mobile networks are not always as fast as a dedicated wireless server. This means that the lessons we’ve learned in web page performance optimisation need to be even more rigorously applied.
Site navigation is all important to maximise mobile SEO. The number of clicks to find the page you want should be minimised, while menus need to be logically constructed to facilitate intuitive browsing.
What anova can do for you
Our team of technical auditors will go through your site’s code with a view to making it more appealing on a mobile device. Taking all of the above issues into consideration, we will ensure that any mobile user will be able to get the very best experience from your online presence, wherever they might be.
Get in touch
Are you missing out on customers who are searching for you on the go? Are mobile users passing you by? Contact anova today for a free, no-obligation SEO audit, and let us help optimise your website for mobile devices.
