You may be aware of the importance of internal links, optimised meta data, and other ranking factors that play a crucial part in on-page SEO, but how comfortable are you with technical and mobile SEO?
In today's digital world, mobile devices have become an increasingly important part of our lives. As more and more people choose to access the internet through their phones and tablets, optimising websites for mobile has become a crucial part of technical SEO. This is why your site's mobile compatibility is an important factor to consider when looking to enhance your SEO strategies and search rankings.
Still lost? Don't worry, our team of SEO experts here at Viaduct Generation have put together this in-depth blog all about the importance of mobile SEO for increasing your site’s performance on the SERPs.
But first...
What is mobile SEO?
Mobile SEO is exactly what it says on the tin: the practice of optimising your website and its content to improve its visibility and performance in mobile search engine results pages (SERPs). Mobile SEO has become increasingly important as smartphones and mobile devices become a more popular way to access the internet and search engines.
Mobile SEO aims to enhance user experience on mobile devices, ensuring that your website is easily accessible, user-friendly, and provides relevant and valuable information to mobile searchers. The mobile optimisation process involves using various techniques such as responsive web design, mobile-friendly layouts, fast loading speeds, and optimising content for mobile users.
Benefits of mobile SEO
Now that we've covered the basics of what mobile SEO is, let's have a look at the many benefits you'll be able to reap from implementing a mobile SEO strategy.
Improve your rankings with mobile-first indexing
Since Google has implemented mobile-first indexing, the search engine primarily uses the mobile version of a site for indexing and ranking. If you don't have a mobile-friendly website, you may start seeing lower visibility and reduced rates of organic traffic. By optimising for mobile, you can ensure that your website meets Google's standards for indexability and improve its chances of higher ranking in search results.
Improved user experience
Everyone that manages a website understands the importance of a smooth and seamless user experience. Well, it turns out a site's mobile optimisation can have a direct impact on user experience. A mobile-friendly website will be able to offer a seamless and intuitive browsing experience for mobile users viewing your website on their smartphones and tablets.
Mobile-optimised websites also tend to load faster, have easy-to-read content, and provide a responsive web design that adapts to different screen sizes. Instead of just shrinking down the desktop version of your pages to fit on a small screen, mobile-optimised sites adapt the site for more intuitive browsing on a phone or tablet, ensuring that text is still readable and that navigation remains effortless.
We can’t overstate the importance of user experience. When mobile users have a positive experience on your website, they'll be more likely to engage, convert, and revisit the site in the future.
Higher conversion rates
A well-optimised, mobile-friendly site can also help to boost your website's conversion rates. Research conducted by Digital WPI indicates that a well-optimised mobile site can lead to a 30% increase in sales and over 70% increase in overall products sold. By ensuring that your website is optimised with mobile devices in mind, you can create a smooth site experience that encourages mobile users to take action, leading to higher conversion rates and increased revenue.
Competitive advantage
The world of technical SEO is a highly competitive landscape, which is why staying ahead of the curve is absolutely crucial when developing your SEO strategy. Optimising your website using a mobile-first approach gives you a competitive advantage by helping you reach a wider audience and provide a superior user experience.
Mobile pages that are easy to use and navigate will help create a positive site experience for your customers, who are then more likely to choose your brand over any of your competitors. If you neglect implementing mobile SEO strategies, you risk losing potential customers to competitors who have prioritised mobile-friendly experiences.
This is especially important for businesses that rely on last minute or spontaneous purchases, which are often made on mobile phones rather than desktop browsers. For example, a local business offering walking tours to tourists may see a lot of bookings from holidaymakers who are already at their destination and are spontaneously looking for an activity for that same afternoon. Because many people browse primarily on their phones or tablets when travelling, having a website that works poorly on mobile may lead to tourists booking a competitor’s tour instead!
Faster page speed
Page speed is an essential factor that can impact both user experience and search engine rankings. Slow-loading mobile pages can lead to higher bounce rates and a decrease in user satisfaction. For a fast-loading page, you'll want to optimise images, leverage browser caching and minimise JavaScript and CSS files.
Reduced bounce rates
Bounce rates, which refers to the percentage of users who leave a website after only viewing one page, can be significantly impacted by how mobile-friendly your website is. If your site isn't mobile responsive, users may encounter issues such as slower page loading times, distorted layouts, or difficult navigation. These issues will often lead to a higher bounce rate, indicating a lost opportunity for engagement and conversions. By optimising your website for mobile users, you'll be able to deliver a seamless browsing experience that will help keep visitors on your site for longer and reduce overall bounce rates.
Social sharing and link building
Designing a mobile friendly website isn't just essential for search engines, but also for social sharing and link building. Mobile users who have a positive experience navigating your site are more likely to share your content on social media platforms. This sharing can lead to increased visibility, brand exposure, and valuable backlinks, which are crucial for SEO success.
Implementing mobile SEO strategies
Now that we’ve looked at some of the reasons that optimising for mobile is such an important aspect of your SEO strategy, let’s dive deeper into how you can do it.
Mobile site audits
Site audits are an essential part of technical SEO, but for a truly thorough audit you'll also want to conduct an audit specifically of your mobile site. Conduct regular audits on your mobile sites to identify any technical or content issues that could use improvement. A mobile SEO audit should also involve checking your website for mobile compatibility, responsiveness, page load speed, and usability. Quickly addressing any mobile-specific issues can help you maintain optimal mobile performance and further improve your search engine rankings.
Improve website structure
While a fast page speed is essential for mobile SEO, it’s just as important to make sure your website is easy to navigate through. Websites full of 404’s and dead ends where users can’t navigate any further can be extremely detrimental to user experience. 404 errors, dead points, and complex website structures can also lead to a drastic drop in your website's search rankings.
To optimise your website structure, you’ll need to make sure your site has no orphan pages or dead links that could lead to 404 errors – you’ll be able to find them when conducting a technical SEO audit. Additionally, a good way to approach building website structures is to make sure that visitors don’t have to click more than three times to navigate to any page.
XML sitemap
An XML sitemap is essentially a road map that helps search engines find all the important content on your website. By creating an XML sitemap, you’ll be able to boost your website's crawlability, which makes it an essential part of technical mobile SEO. XML sitemaps are even more important for larger websites with more complicated website structures as the sitemap will guide search engines to the most important content on your site. Once you’ve created the XML sitemap, simply submit them to Google Search Console and watch your website's search ranking skyrocket!
Optimise content for mobile
While responsive design is an essential aspect of mobile SEO, you also want to make sure you're optimising the content for your mobile site. To ensure that your content is just as easy to navigate on the mobile version of your site as it is on the desktop version, you'll want to ensure you're creating high quality content that is concise, easy to read, and visually appealing. Break up chunks of texts with headings, bullet points, and images to enhance your content's readability. You'll also want to make sure you're optimising meta tags such as meta descriptions, and meta titles for mobile search.
Mobile keyword research
For a truly mobile-first SEO strategy, we recommend performing keyword research that's specifically tailored to mobile users. Mobile search queries often have different search intent and language involved compared to desktop searches. Understanding this unique mobile search behaviour allows you to optimise your content to align with mobile users' needs and preferences.
Local SEO and mobile
Mobile devices also play a crucial role in local search. Users frequently use their mobile devices to search for local businesses and services, so it's important that you're optimising your mobile website with relevant location-based keywords, registering with local directories, and compiling positive customer reviews. By optimising your mobile pages for local SEO, you'll be able to increase your visibility on mobile search results.
Final thoughts
In such a mobile dominated world, it's hard to deny that mobile optimisation is an absolutely crucial aspect of technical SEO. With the majority of internet users now accessing content through their mobile devices, website owners need to start prioritising mobile optimisation if they want to effectively reach their target audience. By implementing responsive design, enhancing mobile user experience, and adhering to mobile SEO best practices, you'll be able to position your website for success in search engine rankings while also ensuring a seamless experience for all your mobile users.
Interested in optimising your website? We're Viaduct Generation, a mission-led SEO agency passionate about diversifying the digital landscape and empowering SME businesses. Contact our team today for a free audit and we'll help boost your site's search engine rankings and performance.
