It’s Time To Hug And Get Friendly With Mobile
This is probably the biggest new element of SEO/SERP. Google will significantly de-rank a website if it does not have a “mobile friendly” version for mobile visitors. This means your website should look “acceptable” on smartphones. Google made this landscape-changing decision primarily due to the fact that mobile search has outpaced desktop search in late 2014 (not joking).
Now to be mobile friendly, it’s imperative that your website is either responsive or has a separate mobile (/mobile) version of the site that users are automatically directed to on their phones, with menus that fit a phone screen and contain buttons/lettering styles that are big enough to read on the phone.
When creating a new website or improving your current website, you absolutely MUST MUST…and MUST be mobile friendly if you want a chance of competing in the SEO/SERP race and appearing in the top pages of Google Search (for organic traffic to your product site, service site, blog, or app page).
Let’s Do A Test
Below we have compiled a step-by-step list of what to do to make sure you are either already mobile friendly, or how to get mobile friendly.
1. Don’t panic. Take a big breath in, and gently breathe out.
2. Check that your website is mobile friendly using Google’s own check.
If Mobile Friendly: If Google gives you a thumbs up, then you are good to go. You can sit back and relax with a big smile.
If Not Mobile Friendly: Perhaps it’s time to start looking for a new theme for your WordPress website or begin building a mobile PHP (or framework) based version that mobile visitors are automatically directed to.
Important Mobile Elements
Some elements that your mobile theme or mobile version needs to have are:
1. Auto fit-to-screen responsive structure. This will automatically adjust the website elements to neatly fit any screen size and whether it’s being viewed in portrait or landscape mode on a mobile device.
2. Large and clear menu buttons at the top.
3. Large elements like text and link buttons that fit neatly and have enough space around them to make interacting with them smooth and intuitive.
You can quickly see how your current website or mobile version looks on any phone by using mobiletest.me.