Everything You Need to Know About Mobile SEO

Smartphone addiction is real and it is a global phenomenon. For a majority of people, checking their phone first thing in the morning is a ritual. Needless to say, mobile devices have changed lives dramatically and also the way people use the web, leading to changing SEO. If you have not optimised your website for mobile SEO, there is a high chance that you are not reaching out to your target audience or satisfying the needs of your customers. Keep reading to know how you can deliver the ideal mobile experience to your audience.

What is the Importance of Mobile SEO?

Mobile SEO is critical because it enables you to reach your target audience at the right time and in the right place. Every day, people are discovering more and more advantages of smartphones, which is leading to mobile traffic surpassing desktop traffic. In order to connect with millions of mobile phone users, you need an effective mobile SEO strategy. As per reports, smartphone users have a much higher intent of buying than desktop users. So, you need to be there when potential buyers are looking for your products or services.

Google’s Mobile-first Index Raised the Importance of Mobile SEO

Making websites mobile-friendly was a concern amongst most online businesses thanks to the rising number of smartphone users all over the world. But, Google’s mobile-first index made it mandatory for online businesses to have a mobile version of their website. As per the mobile-first index, the search giant announced that it would be giving more preference to website’s that has a mobile version when it comes to ranking. The mobile websites will be crawled by Googlebot to determine their content, performance and user experience. This announcement means that online businesses must take action if they do not want to lose their customers to their competitors.

Websites with Responsive Design Fares Well on Search Engines

When developing your mobile website, you are going to have 3 options – responsive design, a separate site on a subdomain or dynamic serving. Amongst the three options, Google prefers responsive design because that way, you will only have one website adapting to the devices that it is being used on. You would not have to build different websites for different mobile devices and screen sizes.

Having a responsive website is less of a hassle, as well. Such websites have only one code base, making maintenance extremely easy. Also, responsive design is going to make your website readily eligible for Google’s mobile-first index.

Important Considerations for Mobile SEO

  • Page speed: You cannot afford to have a mobile website that loads extremely slow. Mobile users are even more impatient than desktop users, and they might not wait for 5 to 7 seconds for your website to load. You need to periodically analyse the performance of your mobile website and make the necessary changes. Some suggestions for improving page speed would be optimising the images, upgrading to HTTPS, use a CDN and so on. Professionals offering SEO optimization services can give you more inputs.
  • User experience: Besides being found easily, your mobile website should offer an outstanding user experience. You need to be vigilant about the common tasks performed by your customers and their search intent. Make sure to do away with any kind of obstacle that might hinder your users from reaching their goals fast.
  • Optimise for local: Smartphones become particularly useful when users are out and about. About 76% of mobile users search for things are nearby to where they are. This means that to truly achieve SEO success, you need to optimise your mobile website for local search.

The digital and mobile landscape undergoes rapid changes. So, even once you have a foolproof mobile SEO strategy, significantly invest in upgrading it.

Leave a Reply