With over 7 billion people using smartphones around the world every day, if your business has an online presence, that needs to be optimized for those mobile users. But what does a mobile-friendly site look like, and why, exactly, should you have one? Keep reading to find out.
A mobile-optimized website simply refers to a website that people can easily view and use right from their mobile devices.
Because it appears on a smaller screen compared to a laptop or desktop computer, the website’s visual and written content will need to be optimized accordingly.
Mobile-friendly websites have several recognizable features – let’s look at three of the main ones.
First of all, a mobile-ready website is intuitive and user-friendly, as it enables everyone to navigate it with ease. Ultimately, this makes for an overall great user experience, enticing the visitor to stick around for longer and learn more about your brand and offering.
As we mentioned, mobile-friendly websites need to feature smaller elements, including written content. However, this doesn’t mean that the font size should be so minuscule that visitors have to constantly zoom in to read! A properly optimized website is highly readable and engaging, despite the smaller size of its content.
Think about this: the majority of people browsing the web from their mobile devices do so because they expect a fast, on-the-go experience. In turn, this means that quick loading times are a must for mobile-optimized websites, as this meets users’ needs and expectations and encourages them to spend more time on your site.
Now that you know what a mobile-friendly website looks like, it’s time to explore some of the most important reasons why you need one for your business.
One of the top benefits of having a mobile-optimized website is, no doubt, the huge improvement in user experience (UX). When a website features easy-to-read content that works seamlessly on mobile, the resulting UX is great. And what happens when you offer a great UX? People keep coming back to you, time and again.
Did you know that it takes only a bunch of milliseconds for a new visitor to form their opinion of your website? This means that you have a tiny window during which you want to prove value, relevance, and credibility. With a mobile-ready website, you can instantly showcase all this – and more – which in turn prolongs the time users spend on your site.
Which business doesn’t dream of reaching the first page of Google’s search results? Well, believe it or not, a mobile-optimized website can help you with that. This is because, when you leverage mobile SEO as opposed to just online SEO, search engines automatically bump your content up – not to mention that Google algorithms prefer mobile-friendly websites and are naturally more inclined to promote them.
As a follow-up to the previous benefit, it’s worth mentioning that the higher SERP rankings that mobile optimization enables usually mean better reach and visibility. Why? It’s simple. When a user conducts an online search, they tend to click on one of the first few results that appear on the first page. And if your business is right there among them, then boom – your visibility is through the roof.
Regardless of the specific sector you operate in, the chances are that you deal with some level of competition. And how do those competitors fare in the mobile-optimization world? Take a look at their sites: are they mobile-friendly? What’s the UX like? Then, use this as a lesson learned – or a simple inspiration – to do more (and do better) with your site.
One of the most exciting – yet challenging at the same time – things about technology is that it changes fast and often. What works today might not be working tomorrow, which means that brands must constantly be ready for any sudden transformations. With a mobile-optimized website, your business will become more adaptable to such changes, thanks to its in-built flexibility and future-proof capabilities.
Last but not least, it’s worth mentioning that a mobile-friendly website can also be a powerful tool to boost the reputation of your brand. With such a website, in fact, you can demonstrate to your customers that you value their browsing experience and are committed to making things easy and pleasant for them, which in turn positions you as a credible, dedicated, and trustworthy brand, enhancing your overall image and reputation.
With 90% of the global population using smartphones or other mobile devices on a daily basis, it’s easy to understand why optimizing your website for mobile is paramount. In this blog, we discussed what a mobile-friendly site looks like, and gave you seven great and actionable tips to implement one for your business.
However, mobile optimization done properly is not always as simple as it sounds. So, if you need an expert hand to help you with optimizing your website in the best possible way, don’t hesitate to get in touch with the pros at Basecamp Studios today!
