How to optimize a site for mobile-first indexing?

Mobile-first indexing is becoming one of the most important items in optimizing any website . A change that Google has gradually introduced over the past couple of years has become very important for SEO. Therefore, in the new text, we present you some tactics that help you optimize your site for mobile-first.

How to optimize a site for mobile-first

Being ready to move to mobile-first indexing and optimizing for it are two different things. Here are some great tactics you can implement that will ensure you’re not only mobile-first ready, but your website is optimized to maximize conversions.

Speed ​​up the site

There are several tactics that answer how to optimize a site for mobile-first. When it comes to conversions and overall user experience (UX), we recommend starting with website speed, with a particular focus on mobile devices. We wrote about the increasing importance of speed here .

One of the main tools for speeding up a site on mobile devices is AMP. The AMP Project is an open initiative to improve the mobile ecosystem. It allows you to load your web pages much faster than plain HTML. Google also caches your content in its own cache to make it load even faster. All of this results in a much faster, more elegant user experience and should in turn lead to improved visibility in search results.

If your website currently performs well on mobile devices, delivers good UX and loads quickly, you will gain very little by switching to AMP. We would always recommend a full audit of your mobile version of the site, before deciding to make any changes.

Make navigation easier

One of the most important elements of website design is navigation. Navigation is exactly what it sounds like – how someone moves around your site. If your website lacks effective navigation, it will not be as effective for your business as it should be.

Website visitors typically want to know three things during a visit: “Where am I?”, “Where have I been?” and “Where else can I go?” By displaying these answers prominently in your navigation structure, there’s a better chance that the visitor will stay on the site for longer. , thereby increasing the likelihood of conversion.

An organized and transparent navigation system acts as a road map for directing visitors to various pages and information on your site.

Easy navigation allows visitors to explore your site in more detail and learn about your products or services, increasing their trust in your brand. If a visitor can easily navigate your site, the chances of them leaving immediately are less.

Customize the content

One of the most important things that affects first of all the user experience, and therefore the overall performance of the site, is the adaptability of the content for use on mobile devices.

Moving to mobile-first indexing will have a greater impact on your site if the content is not optimized. Most sites have content optimized for viewing on desktop computers. If some of that content is missing on mobile, you may not rank in the future.

Even if you have a responsive website , you may want to consider some design changes to optimize the mobile experience.

Google has already said that sites will not be penalized for “hiding” content behind a dropdown menu. They understand that space is limited on mobile devices, so it makes sense not to show users all the content at once. They also said that they will search all the content found in the dropdowns, so use them wisely as part of your mobile design.

Do not use Flash animations even by accident. For starters, from the end of this year Chrome will no longer support it at all, and we believe that all other browsers will follow suit. Use HTML5 or Java to add those cool interactive elements that can be very engaging and fun. Also, use pop-up elements sparingly and carefully. There is no doubt that they are necessary and very useful in certain situations. But there is nothing more irritating for a mobile user than when a pop-up blocks them from accessing the desired content.

Simplify payment

A segment that is particularly important for those who have an e-commerce site. Online sales are on the rise. This has been especially evident since the declaration of the pandemic and restrictions on movement.

According to Think with Google , 85% of customers start a purchase on one device and finish it on another (or in-store). This could change if the process of paying via mobile devices is simplified to the maximum. Simplifying this process, especially on mobile devices, is a great way to speed up the process and reduce the barriers to conversion.

Minimize the amount of information you request from the customer. There are many other ways you can get that data. Make payment on the site as simple as possible and without asking for unnecessary information. Related to this is the already mentioned simplified navigation, as well as the elimination of all those elements that can threaten the user experience.

Given that a large number of people don’t complete a purchase on the same device, giving people the option to save their cart for later (without having to log in) is a great way to eventually complete the conversion. Making it clear to the customer that their cart will be available later is a good way to get them to come back and complete their purchase.

To successfully answer the question of how to optimize a site for mobile-first indexing, businesses will need to start thinking this way. Mobile-first should be the first consideration when creating a website .

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