“Mobile visitors are here to stay. Your website should learn to embrace them, and deliver a user-friendly experience.”
If you’re reading this article on a mobile device, you’re not alone. The number of people using their devices to access the web is constantly growing. The traffic to most websites we look at is now made up of more than 60% mobile. That number is only expected to grow which means if your website is not mobile-friendly, you’re missing out on some much-needed traffic. Mobile visitors are here to stay, your website should learn to embrace them, and deliver a properly tailored experience.
We’re going to tell you how you can figure out if your website’s visitors are coming from a mobile device or a desktop and look at the importance of how a mobile-friendly device can also help drive shoppers to your site.
How can you tell if your website visitors are coming from mobile or desktop?
If you’re not sure if your website visitors are coming from a mobile or desktop device, you can easily tell by installing a tracking tool like Google Analytics. It’s a free tool that can collect and break down the information for you. If you chose to use Google Analytics you can see what percent of your visitors are coming to your website from mobile devices by navigating to Audiences > Mobile > Overview.
Does it really matter if my website is not mobile-friendly?
YES, and YES! If you want your website to succeed in today’s world, it needs to be mobile-friendly. If it’s not, people will find a website that is, and there are plenty out there that are. Google also finds mobile-friendly websites important and prioritizes them. When you optimize your website to be mobile-friendly in formatting and content, you’ll find that your SEO content will be more effective as well. This will result in higher search results when people use your keywords and phrases in their search. You also want to be sure that you are compliant with Google’s Mobile Optimization Guidelines. If not, you may see a drop in your organic search ranking.
How important are mobile-friendly devices to online shoppers?
Mobile-friendly devices are very important to online shoppers because more people like the convenience of doing things right away, not waiting until they get home to go on their desktop. Mcommerce, shopping through a mobile device, is seeing an increase. According to Insider Intelligence, “Mcommerce” is expected to become a shopper’s preference within the next five years.
PewInternet.org reports that nearly two-thirds of the U.S. population has a mobile phone with Internet access, and they use these devices to conduct the majority of their online searches.
Also, consider these statistics if you’re not sure how important having a mobile-friendly device is for shoppers:
- Retail mcommerce sales hit $359.32 billion in 2021, an increase of 15.2% over 2020.
- By 2025, retail mcommerce sales should more than double.
- By 2025, retail mcommerce is expected to reach $728.28 billion and account for 44.2% of retail ecommerce sales in the U.S
As more people trade in their desktops for shopping on the go with their mobile devices, there’s no time like the present to make sure your website is mobile-friendly.
Is my website mobile-friendly?
You may look at your website and assume it’s mobile-friendly at face value. But, when you start diving a little deeper, you may realize it isn’t. One easy way to determine that is to take Google’s Mobile Friendly Test. Just type in your URL and within a matter of minutes, you can see if Google deems your website to be mobile-friendly. If it is, great! If not, you have some work to do.
Another handy tool is Google Page Speed Insights. Enter the URL and click analyze. When you look at your site in the mobile tab, the content shouldn’t be cut off. If it is, it’s not mobile-friendly. This tool will also give you other valuable information about how the website is performing and how you can improve it.
You can always tell if your website is mobile-friendly is by checking it on your own device. If it is, all of the content will be visible, and nothing will be cut off on any sides. If you need to scroll left or right to see any content, then your site is not mobile-friendly.
How can I make my website mobile-friendly?
When you realize your website isn’t mobile-friendly, there are some steps you can take to correct the problem.
- Use a mobile-responsive theme or template
This means your website’s design adjusts to adapt to the size of the screen.
- Strip Back Your Content
You don’t have to tell your users everything on the homepage. Scale it back a bit so that things are easy to read, and not in large chunks, this will help to make your page mobile-friendly.
- Avoid Flash and Pop-Ups
Flash is usually not supported on mobile content, so avoid it if possible. Pop-ups should also be avoided on a mobile device because they may not come up at the right time and may not be able to be seen.
- Use a Readable Font
When people are using their mobile devices, the font needs to be large enough for them to read on a smaller screen.
Keeping these things in mind can help your website to be more mobile-friendly. This will result in more traffic and hopefully more sales if you sell products on your site.