The fact that most people are using smartphones to access the internet today, you need to ensure that you are not left behind by not optimizing your sites for mobile devices. The onset of Google’s mobile-first index has changed the rules of SEO. With mobile-first indexing, mobile-friendly sites will be given preference over sites designed solely for desktops when it comes to ranking.
In order to benefit from this development, you have to adjust your site accordingly and ensure it is fully optimized for mobile devices. Here are some valuable SEO tips that will help benefit from this fast-growing mobile-first era.
- Invest in a Responsive Web Design
The first thing you need to do to conform to mobile-first indexing is to ensure your website is current and can fit the screens of different devices automatically. You want to provide an impressive user experience on mobile devices and minimize operations such as zooming and panning when browsing the web. In this case you may need to redesign your website.
You also need to optimize the speed of your mobile products. If your website or app takes ages to load, your visitors will most likely leave the site and never return. This will raise your bounce rate, affect your traffic, and eventually hurt your ranking in the SERPs.
- Optimize Your Content for Mobile Devices
Content is one of Google’s top three search ranking factors, regardless of the device you are using, so it’s imperative that you optimize your website content for mobile phone users. Here are some mobile content optimization strategies you can implement with the help of a reputable professional such as Scott Keever SEO:
- Write compelling headlines that drive customers into clicking through
- Learn how to use LSI keywords effectively in your content
- Build inbound links to your content. This will help build your authority and increase your relevance for various terms.
- Create substantial content of at least 2,000 words. Content length is a critical mobile SEO ranking factor and long-form content is more likely to rank higher for mobile searches.
- Use Pop-ups In the Right Manner
While pop-ups are great when it comes to collecting customer information such as emails, they can be dangerous if not used properly. Pop-up tools normally work great on desktops. However, they can deliver an awful user experience on mobile devices, which can hurt your bounce rate. There are several things you can do to arrest the pop-up menace on mobile devices, including:
- Deactivating pop-ups for your mobile visitors.
- Simplifying them. Consider making your forms as simple as possible to fill out and close once the visitor is done.
- One of the best options is to only use pop-ups when a visitor clicks. People are normally more receptive to pop-ups that they’ve asked for.
- Test and Verify
There are several tests you can do to make sure your site conforms to mobile-first indexing requirement.
- Run a txt tool to check if your website is accessible to Google bots, which will boost your rankings.
- Use Google’s structured data sets to compare your desktop and mobile sites. You’ll be able to identify errors that need to be rectified on your mobile site.
Conclusion
Google’s mobile-first index requires that you up your mobile SEO game as the search engine is giving mobile-friendly sites more preference when it comes to SERPs ranking. With the help of an SEO professional like Scott Keever, you should analyze your site and make necessary adjustments to ensure it is mobile-optimized.
