The term mobile optimization refers to customizing the web content so that the visitors who access it on their mobile phones get an outstanding experience. We know how useful our mobile phones are; they offer the entire experience of a desktop on a small screen, anytime and anywhere.
Optimized content fits on the small screen of mobile phones such that it becomes readable. Videos suited to be viewed on mobile phones are optimized too. Also, the email messages are stuffed with lesser images to be able to load quickly. But why is Mobile Optimization so important? Let us understand this in detail.
One of the obvious reasons why mobile optimization is so important is that people spend a major time using a mobile phone or a tablet. They tend to carry out all the research, check emails, do shopping, everything right on these devices. So, when so much huge traffic generates from smartphones and tablets, it is clear that the mobile search has taken over the desktop search in most cases.
To render a smooth experience to the user, the developers must ensure that their content can be easily viewed on a mobile. But how to make sure that your content is mobile-ready?
In any business sector, be it e-commerce, health care, research, restaurants, online gaming, or any other industry - a fully functional and high-quality mobile-optimized website is a must to boost online presence. Let us understand what practices and techniques a developer must implement to get the best mobile representation.
Web content that appears just above the border when the user loads a page is known as “Above the fold” whereas the part of the web page that requires scrolling is known as “Below the fold”.
So, in the mobile era, people endlessly scroll, but above the fold hasn’t disappeared completely. Some text above the fold tempts the viewers and gives them a reason to scroll. Remember, people are always curious about what you are offering.
The separate m- dot websites aren't any longer a part of the mobile era because they are messy, and multiple URL’s creations lead to content duplication issues unless properly optimized.
So, the best way to solve this issue is to use responsive design techniques that use media queries. Media Queries specifies the various resolutions that a particular design can support; each of these resolutions is called the “breakpoint,” i.e., the point where the responsive design locomotes to another resolution.
This in turn avoids any content duplication issues keeping your mobile website at par with the technology.
You, as a developer, must be able to cater to the expectations of both the desktop as well as mobile users. So, focus more on their wishes than on the platform and work with a holistic approach.
This helps in increasing the site speed. Though small changes do not make a difference to the speed of the site when the optimizations add up, they do! So, while creating a website, code the object instead of using an image like this will help your site’s speed to grow exponentially.
WordPress offers a great range of plug-ins that even facilitate mobile compatibility, minifying HTML, or CSS. Some plug-ins that can be used for this purpose are as follows - Duda Mobile, W3 Total Cache.
This helps the developer to evaluate all the consequences associated with a design step by step to avoid any issues in the final draft. For instance, if you decide to create a website for the desktop, after finishing about three-quarters of it, you feel the need of creating a mobile site on top. Now, you create the code for the mock-up but, while transitioning a bug occurs here, there, over there, and so on.
Thus, at the very last minute, some unexpected issues came up due to the bottom-up approach implementation which is difficult to figure out and rectify.
This is suggested to avoid cloaking or content duplication. Thus, stay safe by keeping the content the same for both the platforms - mobile as well as desktop. One of the best ways to implement the same is with the help of “Responsive Design”.
Don’t try to bug the users by blocking their activity using intrusive ads. Introduce the ads at the bottom of the side, leaving the option to click or remove up to the user. Also, remember, Google can also penalize you for intrusive interstitials.
Mobile phones undoubtedly are ruling the online world. Thus, to be ahead of the race, it is very important to create equally effective content irrespective of the device it is accessed from. Also, stay updated with Google's changes in terms of SEO and SERP to explore new branding opportunities. You will surely be amongst the top-rated Google pages by following the above techniques for optimizing a website for mobile.
