15 Quick Tips to Write Mobile-friendly Content

In 2015, Google came out with a significant mobile-friendly ranking algorithm with an aim to give a ranking boost to mobile-friendly pages in Google’s mobile search and later in 2018, it started rolling out the mobile-first indexing with which Google started having a separate index for mobile and started evaluating websites based on their respective mobile versions for rankings.

The world has truly gone mobile which is evident from the fact that mobile usage has been rapidly increasing and even Google reported in 2015 that more searches are happening in mobile than on desktop.

Given the facts that strongly suggest that mobile should be the focal point of your digital strategy, are you focusing on creating mobile-friendly content? In 2019, one cannot pretend that mobile friendly content is just a thing. If stats are to be believed, 3.3 billion people across the globe used their smartphones for searching and consuming content online. That’s about 93% of all internet users!

Now that so many users prefer their smartphones than their tablets, laptops and PCs for using internet, it is important to concentrate on mobile-friendly content and pages so that your website remains user-friendly and also ranks better in mobile search and also brings in the desired audience and conversions. Moreover, Google has set its priorities to give preference to mobile-friendly websites and on its mobile search results and responsive websites clearly have an edge over non-responsive sites. One needs to understand that a responsive website is not only about a responsive design but a combination of mobile friendly content and mobile first design.

However, creating mobile friendly content is not an easy task. Optimal, search-friendly content that conveys your message effectively to the users and also fits the small screen perfect is what is required.

Therefore, we bring you quick 15 tips that can help you write mobile-friendly content without any hassle and get you started in no time.

• • Approach with A Mobile Content Strategy – This is the first and foremost step towards making your web page mobile responsive. Any mobile content strategy will never ignore small screens in fact take it as an advantage to make content concise. This way you’re offering an exclusive and efficient mobile experience to your users.
  • Use Effective Headlines – Small screens are the best when it comes to using effective headlines and sub-heading to grab all the clicks. Make sure that the headlines are persuasive, short & crispy and encourage users to take the desired action.
  • Have Clear URLs – Your site structure on mobile has to be precise for Google to show clearer breadcrumb style URLs in mobile web search. This helps the user to navigate your website better and well-structured urls are also seo-friendly.
  • Be To The Point – There is no room for lengthy paragraphs with that limited screen size. No user would scroll for too long to find the desired content. Highlight the keywords and lines in the first paragraph so that the reader can know all the takeaways quickly.
  • Use Short Paragraphs – Break your longs paragraphs into short chunks and bullets because readers hardly read long paragraphs on mobile. Moreover, it makes the reader understand and digest the content better.
  • Have Call to Action Buttons – CTA buttons are best in small screens because they are perfect replacements of long paragraphs. Install clear CTA buttons that are easy to execute and engage the audience promptly.
  • Optimize your Mobile Content – Google considers mobile content for rankings with the roll out of mobile-first indexing. Make sure to optimize page titles, headlines, body content and images etc. for better rankings. Also make sure that the same content is served on desktop as well mobile and content shown to users and bots should be the same.
  • Use Google’s webmasters & mobile-friendly check tool – use ‘Fetch as Google’ in webmasters to see how your mobile content is seen by Google and users. You may also use Google’s mobile-friendly test tool to make sure that your website is mobile-friendly.
  • Consider front-loading Content – Unlike desktop version, mobile designs have limited space. When a person is on the webpage, the subject and the crux of the content will help decide the reader to move on or not. This part adds value for your website on several fronts because it helps readers or potential audience to navigate and find the appropriate content for them. Potential mobile audience would love to find the summarized version of the content at the top to decide whether he/she wants to read through the content or not and would never want to scroll through the long text to understand what the content is all about.
  • Create Solution Driven Content – Solution driven content minus the clutter on the page equals to added value for the audience. Any reader on your website would only stick to the content that solves their purpose and makes the journey on your website a smooth sail.
  • Make It Easy to Digest – Mobile audience have limited patience and time to spend on any website because you never know at which place or environment they are surfing the internet. So a website with heavy words or complex content makes it difficult for the audience to understand and take the desired action. Keep the content in a simply and understandable format. Use icons and interactive graphics wherever possible.
  • Make Your Content Easily Shareable – Content should not only be worthy to be shared but it should also be easier for the users to share it across platforms. No user would copy & paste the url to share it across the social media platforms. Thus, having visible social media buttons is a must to make your content sharable.
  • Make it More Modular –  Card based design is often preferred in mobile-first design these days as it gives a lot of space to explain it in a very  clear manner and it also increases the readability yet mobile-friendliness remains intact.. Moreover, card based design provides all the important information in one screen space and the reader does not have to scroll down further.
  • Eliminate Pop-ups – Any smartphone user would already be busy with some other tasks or are on the go. Any sort of pop-up would be distracting and irritating for the user which will make them to abandon their task. So eliminate or at least limit any pop-up that your users are constantly being presented with. To make the mobile user experience smooth, Google has even started penalizing websites using interstitials.
  • Focus on Local SEO – Mobile devices have been increasingly used to search local businesses and other types of local information.  If your business or website is location-specific, then make sure to optimize your content for local searches and makes sure that it clearly addresses the local audience.

With the number of internet users accessing websites and apps on mobile increasing and that it has already surpassed the desktop traffic, making sure that your website has mobile-friendly content is absolutely necessary. Hope these tips help you to improvise your mobile content strategy.

About the Author

Tanya Vashistha is a business writer and an associate at Finessse Interactive, a leading full-service Digital Marketing Agency that has worked with some of the big brands across Industries. Tanya is also a contributor at The Digital Inn.