While you live in my house, you’ll play by my rules. So says Google.
Yes, if you want the search engine giant to display your website information to the most relevant audience, then you have to follow their rules. And in today’s digital landscape, that means your mobile website is as good – if not better – than your desktop site.
But, what does this actually mean? How is a mobile-friendly website different from its desktop counterpart? And how important is it, really?
Great questions – let’s answer them right here.
Why Create a Mobile Website?
You likely know that mobile traffic has surpassed desktop traffic on a global level. This alone makes a mobile-friendly website not simply a nice-to-have, but an essential part of your online success. Smart businesses know that they have to go where the people are, and the people are on their phones.
But there’s more to it than that. In the online space, everything is connected. Here’s how:
Speed and Convenience
A mobile-friendly website is one that can adapt to different screen sizes. This means you don’t have to zoom in and out, or sideways scroll between desktop and mobile views. It also means your site will load faster on mobile devices because it’s not bogged down by unnecessary code.
People expect web pages to load within three seconds or less—and they are more likely to abandon sites that take longer to load. Google knows this, and as its sole aim is to offer a brilliant user experience, speeding up and improving your site’s usability is a great way to boost your rankings.
Conversions
A mobile-friendly site allows you to better engage with your customers, and will almost certainly increase conversions. The immediacy of a mobile touchpoint is a critical factor in how effective your site is; a fact that also impacts the success of your Google ads when running PPC campaigns.
Your success equals Google’s success. If you’re making money, then you’re more likely to spend more on ads. If your customers are buying from you, it means Google is giving out the right information. It’s a win/win.
SEO
We all know how important SEO is, but did you know that having a mobile-friendly website can help improve your SEO efforts? Because more than 50% of all internet traffic is now generated by smartphones and tablets, it’s becoming increasingly important to make sure your website is ready for those devices.
Google has made no secret of the fact that they prioritize sites based on mobile-friendliness as part of their ranking algorithm during website indexing. So even if a person is searching from a desktop computer, an unoptimized mobile site will affect how you rank on search engines.
Brand Perception
Being mobile-friendly isn’t just about convenience; it actually affects how many people will see your business online. No matter what kind of website you have, or what kind of company you run, search engines want you to be found in relevant searches. It makes them look good, and it enhances the perception of your brand.
To Be or Not to Be… Mobile-Friendly
Knowing and understanding how search engine giant Google evaluates your website’s relevance could mean a lot for your SEO. We’ve seen that websites that don’t meet the mobile-friendliness criteria set by Google will be ranked lower than those that do.
In short, if you want your site to rank high on Google’s SERPs (search engine results pages), you need to have a mobile website that can be easily accessed by smartphone users.
In the digital space, everything is connected.
Therefore, if you’re serious about developing a mobile-friendly website and need to outsource SEO and PPC projects to support your goals, please get in touch with us.
