Over the years, mobile internet usage has exploded dramatically. This 2021, the number of mobile-connected devices is estimated to surpass the current world population—11.6 billion! Some statistics show that traffic for mobile data has also grown 18-fold in the past five years.

Based on the figures above, it’s easy to see that the need to optimize for mobile makes perfect sense. Mobile users consume information in real-time while on the go. However, many websites today still do not account for different screen sizes. Undoubtedly, this frustrates many visitors.

It is also crucial that your website gives visitors what they need right away. Otherwise, they will abandon your site and look for what they need someplace else. When this happens, you will not only drive potential leads to your competitors, you will also hurt your bottom line.

Optimizing your site for mobile SEO entails doing everything to ensure it functions and looks properly on smartphones, tablets, and other mobile devices. Once you have optimized your website for mobile SEO, users will have a great experience regardless of the device they use to visit your website.

Smart Ways to Optimize Your Website for Mobile SEO

If you are considering optimizing your website for mobile SEO, below are some of the strategies you need to keep in mind:

Strategy #01: Improve your website’s load time.

This might not be common knowledge, but your website’s load time is a crucial part of the mobile experience. Since most visitors search for information on the go, they want quick access to the information they are looking for. If your website does not load fast enough for your visitors, they will bounce from your page.

To keep leads and visitors on your site, make improving your site’s load time a priority. Google PageSpeed Insights can give you some helpful information about your site’s load time. Google PageSpeed Insights and other website audit tools can also help you see areas you need to improve on. If you don’t know what changes to make, investing in the help of experts is recommended.

Strategy #02: Integrate responsive design.

Responsive design is another key component of any mobile-friendly website. When you use responsive design, your website will adapt to any device your visitor uses. Regardless if it’s a tablet or a smartphone, visitors will be able to give them the best mobile experience.

Integrating mobile design will also make it effortless for your visitors to browse through your site because they can easily view your site and scroll through your page with utmost ease. Without responsive design, visitors won’t be able to read your content and would likely leave your site.

Strategy #03: Take it easy with the pop-ups.

Pop-ups can be very effective if you want to entice your audience to perform certain actions. Whether it’s to download your free content or receive your emails, pop-ups can be effective tools, provided they are used sparingly. This is especially important since pop-ups can be an issue on mobile devices.

Pop-ups can take up the entire screen on mobile phones and can leave users frustrated. With so many pop-ups, it can also become difficult for visitors to your site to find the information they are looking for. In addition, if they don’t know how to hide the pop-up, they can also get frustrated and leave your website.

Strategy #04: Optimize for local.

Another component of mobile SEO is local SEO. The past few years, mobile searches with the phrase “near me” occurred at least three times more than usual. This is a clear indication that more and more users are searching for local businesses. So far, the trend has not shown any signs of slowing down.

With so many people now using local search phrases using their mobile phones, you need to adapt your strategy so you can reach those people. To adapt to local searches, start by using local keywords. Doing so can help ensure your website will appear in more local search results. 

Strategy #05: Implement an easy-to-use and clean navigation bar.

The navigation bar plays a crucial role in how visitors find and access information. If your navigation bar is difficult to use, users can get frustrated and eventually leave your website. To ensure you are creating a pleasant experience for your audience, make sure you have mobile-friendly navigation.

One of the best ways to create mobile-friendly navigation is by using the hamburger menu. Hamburger menus appear at the top of the page with three lines. When users click on the button, they will see a drop-down menu with all the pages on the website they can visit.

The hamburger menu can also help ensure your site’s navigation is organized. The menu also keeps the site clean and easy for visitors to use so they can find any information they are looking for easily.

Final Thoughts

Mobile SEO can help ensure your website is mobile-friendly and meets the standards required by the search engines. It is also important that mobile users access the same content you have on the desktop version, so there is consistency. Lastly, investing in the help of experts can also help so they can guide you about areas you need to improve on.

About the Author

Shawn Byrne is the founder and CEO of SEOPhoenix.net. Shawn started his career in I.T. troubleshooting workstations, servers and networks, then went on to doing SEO as a side project and quickly found success in ranking websites. It was easy for him to grasp not only the algorithms but also the technical side which most SEO strategists miss and neglect because of its complexities. SEO Phoenix then grew based on its own rankings and referrals.