The mobile world took over the desktop world in 2016, although this doesn’t seem to come as a surprise to many. Google reported back in 2015 that more online search was conducted using mobile devices compared with any other device.
What this means is that as an e-commerce marketer, you have to increase your presence not only in the desktop world but also in the mobile world to not fall behind any of your competitors. But how do you optimise mobile SEO for your e-commerce site?
This article details the importance of optimising your e-commerce site for mobile-only users and what actions you can implement to optimise your mobile-only site.
More info: mlawebdesigns.co.uk
Why is mobile optimisation so important
Although responsive design has been fairly well-established, a majority of websites are still built for desktop use. And then they have been dialled back for mobile-only usage; thus, these sites tend to have fallen on usability. These type of sites are not good enough for the mobile-first world that 2017 is gearing toward.
With the introduction of Google’s mobile-first indexing, it is even more important to invest effort in creating a mobile-friendly website. This indexing will determine your mobile site’s search engine ranking. That said, there are three essential components why mobile optimisation is necessary for SEO in 2017:
1. More people use mobile phones to search online.
2. People are 5 times more likely to abandon a website that isn’t mobile-friendly.
3. If a particular site takes longer than 3 seconds to load, more than half of mobile users tend to abandon it.
With the introduction of Google’s mobile-first indexing, it is even more important to invest effort in creating a mobile-friendly website. This indexing will determine your mobile site’s search engine ranking. That said, there are three essential components why mobile optimisation is necessary for SEO in 2017:
1. More people use mobile phones to search online.
2. People are 5 times more likely to abandon a website that isn’t mobile-friendly.
3. If a particular site takes longer than 3 seconds to load, more than half of mobile users tend to abandon it.
What ways can you optimise your mobile presence?
By now, you have the picture of why a mobile presence is essential today. There are 3 fundamental components required in building mobile-friendly websites that will help attract users and increase conversions.
1. Responsive design. This has been around for a while; thus, it’s safe to say that this is not a new concept for most. However, there are still sites that are technically responsive yet do not provide a high-quality experience for mobile-only users. Google recommends using a responsive web design in tackling mobile-friendly sites and is just a minor part of building a competitive mobile-friendly site.
2. Webpage load speed. In the UK, 4G networks have provided improvements in speed, yet coverage isn’t something many can rely on. Thus, it is important to optimise your site’s load speed, especially for users looking for a quick answer when searching using mobile devices. In fact, Google has provided PageSpeed insight tools for web owners to quickly assess how fast the load times of their site pages. The tool also provides pointers in improving page load speed.
3. Mobile design and its usability. Google offers an array of tools to test mobile usability. Google’s Search Console contains a mobile usability report detailing page-by-page problems. When building the mobile version of your site, utilising the tools provided to keep tabs on your site’s problems throughout its lifespan is highly recommended.
These are the most common usability issues that Search Console looks into:
a. Flash usage—Mobile browsers do not use Flash-based technology. Use more modern ones such as HTML5 for your users to view your site.
b. Unconfigured viewport—Viewport meta tag helps users in scaling a webpage to fit a particular mobile device.
c. Font size too small—Ensure that your users need not zoom in or out to read your site’s content.
d. Touch elements are too close—This is a prevalent usability issue wherein tapping a given element also hits the adjacent one.
By removing these common usability issues positively affects how Google grades the usability of your mobile-friendly site.
1. Responsive design. This has been around for a while; thus, it’s safe to say that this is not a new concept for most. However, there are still sites that are technically responsive yet do not provide a high-quality experience for mobile-only users. Google recommends using a responsive web design in tackling mobile-friendly sites and is just a minor part of building a competitive mobile-friendly site.
2. Webpage load speed. In the UK, 4G networks have provided improvements in speed, yet coverage isn’t something many can rely on. Thus, it is important to optimise your site’s load speed, especially for users looking for a quick answer when searching using mobile devices. In fact, Google has provided PageSpeed insight tools for web owners to quickly assess how fast the load times of their site pages. The tool also provides pointers in improving page load speed.
3. Mobile design and its usability. Google offers an array of tools to test mobile usability. Google’s Search Console contains a mobile usability report detailing page-by-page problems. When building the mobile version of your site, utilising the tools provided to keep tabs on your site’s problems throughout its lifespan is highly recommended.
These are the most common usability issues that Search Console looks into:
a. Flash usage—Mobile browsers do not use Flash-based technology. Use more modern ones such as HTML5 for your users to view your site.
b. Unconfigured viewport—Viewport meta tag helps users in scaling a webpage to fit a particular mobile device.
c. Font size too small—Ensure that your users need not zoom in or out to read your site’s content.
d. Touch elements are too close—This is a prevalent usability issue wherein tapping a given element also hits the adjacent one.
By removing these common usability issues positively affects how Google grades the usability of your mobile-friendly site.
The following is a list based on the above components in building mobile-friendly sites:
Basic mobile optimisation
1. Responsive design
2. Page speed
3. Hosting speed
Home page and site navigation
4. Draw attention to CTA
5. Keep menus short and sweet
6. Easy access to Home Page
7. Minimise promotional interference
Website search
8. Ensure site search is visible
9. Make sure results of site search are relevant
10. Apply filters for improved usability of site search
11. Direct users to a better search result
Commerce and conversions
12. Allow site users or visitors explore before committing
13. Let users or visitors buy as a guest
14. Use existing data to maximise convenience
15. Use click-to-call buttons for more complex tasks
16. Allow ease in finishing using another device
Form entry
17. Streamline form entry
18. For each task, provide the simplest input method
19. Present a visual calendar for users to select dates
20. Minimise form errors via real-time validation and labelling
21. Design efficient forms
Usability and form factor
22. Optimise your entire website for mobile use
23. Avoid users pinching to zooming on your site
24. Make images of product expandable
25. Suggest to users which screen orientation will work best
26. Keep users in a single-browser window
27. Avoid “full-site” labelling
28. Clarify why user location is necessary
If you do not optimise your mobile presence, you and your site will miss out on a number of potential visitors. Then, your site will begin to dip in search engine rankings. Hopefully, these tips will help make necessary improvements to your site and make it mobile-friendly.
1. Responsive design
2. Page speed
3. Hosting speed
Home page and site navigation
4. Draw attention to CTA
5. Keep menus short and sweet
6. Easy access to Home Page
7. Minimise promotional interference
Website search
8. Ensure site search is visible
9. Make sure results of site search are relevant
10. Apply filters for improved usability of site search
11. Direct users to a better search result
Commerce and conversions
12. Allow site users or visitors explore before committing
13. Let users or visitors buy as a guest
14. Use existing data to maximise convenience
15. Use click-to-call buttons for more complex tasks
16. Allow ease in finishing using another device
Form entry
17. Streamline form entry
18. For each task, provide the simplest input method
19. Present a visual calendar for users to select dates
20. Minimise form errors via real-time validation and labelling
21. Design efficient forms
Usability and form factor
22. Optimise your entire website for mobile use
23. Avoid users pinching to zooming on your site
24. Make images of product expandable
25. Suggest to users which screen orientation will work best
26. Keep users in a single-browser window
27. Avoid “full-site” labelling
28. Clarify why user location is necessary
If you do not optimise your mobile presence, you and your site will miss out on a number of potential visitors. Then, your site will begin to dip in search engine rankings. Hopefully, these tips will help make necessary improvements to your site and make it mobile-friendly.