What is mobile SEO? Why is mobile SEO important?
The added importance in 2022 of Mobile SEO strategies, image loading speed, optimizing via AMP, and Google’s major shift toward mobile-first indexing:
Design Best Practices for Mobile SEO
Responsive design is a must when optimizing for mobile SEO and mobile-first indexing. Try to avoid Flash elements as most users cannot view these well on their phones, especially on Apple iPhones. Instead, it’s better to use HTML 5 or Java in order to incorporate those functions that make your site stand out. Don’t use pop-ups if you can help it because users will become frustrated and will leave your site. This can also cause your bounce rate to increase, and that is bad for SEO and conversion rates alike.
Make sure you design with your customers’ finger in mind. Users need to scroll, zoom, chat, and watch media with ease. This is key for SEO as well.
You want a loading time under 2 seconds:
The faster your site’s loading time, the happier Google will be, and higher your conversions will be also. You want your site to load in under 2 seconds, and if it’s not then you really need to make some changes. Large images, videos, and other heavy elements slow down your site. Use the minimum amount of code necessary and get rid of unneeded characters. Be sure to leverage browser caching and avoid redirects if you can.
Desktop and Mobile need to display the same content:
Google is now prioritizing mobile content. This means that even if your desktop site has more content and looks better, Google is going to choose your mobile version as the primary content for rankings. The best way to avoid confusion and make sure you get the best search results possible, is to keep all of your content consistent from mobile to desktop.
You can find deeper info on the “mobile first” index here.
No Need to Block JavaScript, CSS, or Images:
Back in the day, every SEO worth his salt would tell you to block JS, CSS, and sometimes even images. This as never a strict requirement to rank well, but it did help a lot in many cases. Now however, smartphones have become very efficient at handling these elements and important that you display them correctly if you want them to be seen and ranked as high quality content.
You can find deeper info on the “mobile first” index here.
Last But Not Least: Use Google’s Resources!
Google themselves offer very direct and helpful SEO resources.
This mobile guide will explain mobile optimization in depth. They also wrote an extensive how-to guide that helps further with mobile sites, hosting optimization, and CMS software help. So read up and then put it all into action!
You can find deeper info on the “mobile first” index here.
About the Author: Jesse Witham has 17 years of experience in Search Engine Optimization, Mobile Marketing, and Digital Media.
