Google has recently sent several emails letting us know that some of the websites I manage are not mobile-friendly. As a website designer who has been trading for 15 years, I have some clients who are ‘quite happy with their website, thank you very much’.
But what if your website isn’t mobile-friendly? What does that mean for your small business in this mobile-loving age?
In Google’s own words: a non-mobile-friendly website is frustrating for mobile users.
We frequently use our smartphones these days: on the train, at the airport, in a taxi – we work on the road. There’s no time to waste! You only have to look around you to see teenagers to pensioners swiping away on their latest gadget.
If you have to swipe up and down, side to side on a website, you don’t hang around for long. You will find a site that is optimised for mobile devices.
Google is on top of this. Google wants to give their users the optimum experience, so they now LABEL mobile-friendly websites. If you are using Google on a mobile device (a smartphone, not a tablet), the search results will clearly indicate whether the site is mobile-friendly.
If you were using a mobile device, which result would you choose?
Try it: pick up your phone and search “kaydee web” on Google. Can you see the ‘Mobile-Friendly’ notice just under my website address?
What makes a website mobile-friendly?
According to Google’s own blog, the following are the requirements for Google to rate a website as mobile-friendly.
- Avoids software that is not common on mobile devices, like Flash
- Uses text that is readable without zooming
- Sizes content to the screen so users don’t have to scroll horizontally or zoom
- Places links far enough apart so that the correct one can be easily tapped
If you want to make sure that your page meets the mobile-friendly criteria:
Check your pages with the Mobile-Friendly Test
I can see Google getting increasingly strict about these guidelines.
If you would like me to check your site over and improve it for mobile devices, email me.
