Mobile SEO is the process of optimizing your website to make sure your site looks incredible, functional, and legible on mobile devices. When you perform mobile SEO, you provide a positive experience for users on phones, tablets, laptops, desktops, and any other platform.

Why is Mobile SEO Important?

Many companies don’t realize the importance of a mobile-friendly site, but if you don’t have one, it hurts both your audience’s perception of your brand and your search engine ranking.

Here are some other reasons why mobile SEO matters to your brand:

• People spend over 70% of their Internet time on mobile devices.
• Over 65% of users prefer to buy from a mobile-friendly company.
• Around 75% of users will return to a mobile-friendly site.
• Google prioritizes mobile when crawling and indexing websites.

Hiring a web design company like The 215 Guys will allow you to use the tips in this article to their fullest extent. Not only can an experienced web design company optimize your site for mobile use, but they can also create a custom website that excels at generating leads.

How to Create an Effective Mobile-Friendly Design

Start adapting your SEO plan to mobile users by utilizing the following ranking tips.

1. Improve Website Load Times

When users search for information on the go, they want a quick response. A slow, lagging website will cause your audience to bounce from your page and on to your competitions, so keep leads on your radar by using tools like Google PageSpeed Insights to improve load times.

2. Integrate Responsive Design

A responsive web design adapts to any device used by the user. Whether it’s a tablet, smartphone, or laptop, your page will be formatted to the website visitors’ screen dimensions in real-time. When your users can easily access information on your site, they’ll stay longer.

3. Avoid Adding Pop-Ups

Although pop-ups are an effective way to grab a user’s attention, they’re also the fastest way to annoy your audience. Not only that, pop-ups cause issues on mobile devices when they take up the entire screen. If you use pop-ups, use them sparingly and where they don’t cover the page.

4. Emphasize User Experience

When designing a mobile-friendly website, make sure it’s easy for your audience to scroll through the page and find your CTA’s. Your calls to action should be big enough for a thumb to click without zooming. Users should be able to read text without zooming in, as well.

5. Mobile-Friendly Navigation Bar

Navigation plays a big role in how website visitors find and access information. Your website navigation shouldn’t be difficult to use. A simple hamburger menu with a drop-down menu is all you need to create a positive environment for your audience and increase your SEO rank.

6. Optimize For Local Use

When users are searching for a local business, they’ll use phrases like “open now” or “near me,” making local SEO an essential part of mobile. Using local keywords, like your city, zip code, landmark, school, or state, will help you appear in more local and city-based search results.

7. Make a Separate Mobile URL

Some designs won’t translate well to mobile devices, no matter how hard you try. A great SEO tip is to create a separate mobile URL that allows you to create a customized experience for people who use mobile devices. This small adaptation allows more users to visit your site.

8. Create Content Specifically for Mobile

Mobile-friendly content is easy to scroll through and typically includes shorter, less information-heavy articles. Paragraphs are kept at 2-3 sentences, and images or GIFS are often smaller. Video content, clickable buttons, and other interactive elements perform well on mobile.