Over 80% of the Internet is Accessed via Cell Phone Devices
The internet has revolutionized marketing in more ways than we will ever comprehend. The latest marketing hurdle is to ensure that a website is mobile friendly, and that this website has as much visibility as the sites of competitors.
A desktop computer has become a thing of the past. Who wants to spend a thousand dollars on some computer that can’t leave your bedroom? As a result, most of the tasks performed on a computer can be done on a smartphone or on a tablet. In addition, the power of smartphones rival that of most computers.
Did you know that according to a report by the Statista Research Department, 4.28 billion people across the globe access the internet on their phones?
To contemplate that staggering figure from another angle – a site that is not mobile friendly is inaccessible to 90% of the world’s internet population! Mobile internet usage is predicted to rise. Which means that those gut-wrenching numbers will only increase.
How to Check Whether or not Your Site is Mobile Friendly
A common misconception regarding the web, is that just because a site is on the internet it can be viewed on all devices. This is not true. Some websites may be crystal clear on a desktop’s monitor, but the layout, content and element sizes just don’t translate well to a smartphone.
To make matters worse, Google has recently implemented new algorithms to ensure that if a site is not mobile friendly, it will only appear on a search after all the sites that are mobile friendly. Most practices have already adapted their sites to smartphones. Now, these practices are currently fighting for placement in those top few Google listings. Every other site will be left out in the cold.
The first step in determining if your site is mobile friendly, is to run a search for “mobile-friendly site”. On the same search page, a box will appear. Type the address of your site in that box, and select “RUN TEST”. You will then be taken to a page, where a test on your site will be conducted. After a few seconds, the results will appear.
Why Can’t my Site be Viewed Properly on my Smartphone?
There are plenty of reasons as to why your site may not appear well on a smartphone.
The good news is that most of the reasons can be easily rectified. Here are three of the more common reasons that might explain why a site is not mobile friendly.
The site is not mobile responsive
The most popular reason as to why some sites will not come up properly on a smartphone, is the site is not mobile responsive. Essentially, such a site does not resize to various screens.
When people discover that their website is not mobile responsive, a common mistake is to resize the site so that it fits a smaller screen. Such a remedy will not solve the problem, plus Google will frown upon such a poorly designed site. The best solution is to discard the site entirely, and create a new one that offers a highly-optimized experience across all devices.
The site takes a while to load
A site’s loading speed is becoming an increasing factor in mobile SEO ratings. Slow loading times will also negatively affect how Google ranks a page. Google provides a helpful source that ranks a site’s loading speed and then provides solutions to improve on that speed.
The site uses popups
Many websites use popups that provide special offers or maybe implore visitors to sign up to a newsletter. On a desktop these popups may look decent, but on a smaller screen they look awkward, spoiling a user’s visit. There are some simple ways to rectify this problem, such as replacing popups with notifications or CTAs, or allow users to easily cancel out the popups with a large and visible X in the corner.
Conclusion
If a business website can not be viewed on a smartphone, 90% of the global internet population will be unable to access the site. After reading this article, one should know how to find out if their site is mobile friendly. If a site is not, we need to make sure that it is. A web designer will fix your site in no time. After that, you can start improving your site’s SEO, so it becomes one of the first listings on Google!
