In short, yes. In the long, keep reading this article to discover the reasons why you should have a mobile-centric website approach and what are the key ways to make your website more mobile-friendly.
“The mobile device has become our communications hub, our diary, our entertainment portal, our primary source of media consumption, our wallet and our gateway to real-time information tailored to our needs. The revolution is now!” – Nihal Mehta, Founding General Partner at Eniac Ventures.
Today, over 1.2 billion people access the Web from their mobile devices. Businesses that want to thrive in the digital age need to think in mobile-related terms and plan their web strategy with mobile in mind.
Why should you optimize your website for mobile user consumption?
- Improved user experience. The modern user requires convenient experiences with no extra effort. And since the market is highly competitive, you need to meet this requirement to stay relevant.
- Faster loading times. Mobile-optimized websites load faster and increase the chance that your customers remain engaged with your content. The average human attention span is eight seconds so hurry up and optimize your website for mobile.
- Increased average time spent on websites. A website that is mobile-optimized is more likely to keep users engaged for longer.
- Your content will actually be read. Websites optimized for mobile make the text displayed on a site look bigger and easier to read.
- More mobile search traffic. Mobile search has become a priority for search engines today. If you display videos or content that is not optimized for mobile, Google will penalize you for it.
Mobile optimization best practices
- Craft your website design with responsiveness in mind. The real ingredient for a mobile-friendly user experience is a responsive website. It automatically resizes and adjusts your content to match the size of the screen it is displayed on, thus providing a streamlined experience for the visitors. Simplified menus and rearranged on-page modules reduce the need for excessive zooming or horizontal scrolling.
- Prioritize search engine friendliness. In other words, adding descriptive information to the backend of your site can help you rank higher on search engines. Additional headers, meta descriptions, or schema markups can help search engine bots to have a more structural view of your site.
- Facilitate content sharing and navigation. Focus on delivering content that is relevant to your audience rather than on volume. In the modern era, less is more and digital users expect to engage with content that keeps them informed.
- Optimize your images and videos. It’s important to take advantage of these powerful marketing tools when optimizing your website for mobile. At this stage, you want to leverage media content in a balanced way that enhances your visitors’ mobile experience. Edit your images by cropping or compressing them and make sure not to overuse them—and always keep the user experience in mind. Implement responsive design for photos and avoid using outdated technology when managing your video content.
“As the consumer’s device of choice, mobile is almost always on hand. It’s the brand’s first point of contact with the consumer, but that doesn’t mean forcing them to walk around with the entire website in your pocket. Rather, the mobile experience needs to address the context of a mobile user.” – Carin van Vuuren, CMO at Usablenet.
As mobile devices become more and more popular, it is vital for companies to develop website strategies that put mobile optimization at the forefront.
