The behavior of online users for browsing has drastically changed in the last 10 years. According to a study by Statcounter, ten years ago, 80% of users came to websites from desktops, but in 2023, this trend has completely reversed, with more than 80% of users coming from Mobile devices. See the table given below:
| Year | Mobile user (%) | Desktop user (%) |
|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 25.3 | 74.7 |
| 2014 | 31.7 | 68.3 |
| 2015 | 41.9 | 58.1 |
| 2016 | 50.1 | 49.9 |
| 2017 | 56.8 | 43.2 |
| 2018 | 63.7 | 36.3 |
| 2019 | 68.1 | 31.9 |
| 2020 | 72.6 | 27.4 |
| 2021 | 76.9 | 23.1 |
| 2022 | 79.4 | 20.6 |
| 2023 | 82.1 | 17.9 |
Now, by looking at the table above, you can understand the importance of mobile-friendly websites. Google recognized this user behavior quite early, which is why Google began giving preference to mobile-friendly websites in 2015. Later on, in 2016, it launched AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages) to make mobile websites even more user-friendly. Then, in 2018, Google introduced the mobile-first indexing algorithm to improve ranking signals for mobile-friendly websites. Finally, in 2020, Google launched LCP (Largest Contentful Paint) to measure and enhance website loading speeds.
Lets’ discuss
How users interact with websites on mobile devices
Tapping and swiping: Mobile users used to choose elements like links, buttons, and images by tapping on the screen. Additionally, they have the option to swipe across the screen to either scroll through pages or move between various elements within a page.
Voice commands: Some mobile users are habituated to voice search, which makes it easy for users to interact with websites by simply speaking and searching. For example, a user might say, “Search for cat videos,” to open a search engine and search for cat videos.
Gestures: The mobile user also often uses gestures to perform various tasks during browsing, such as employing a two-finger gesture to pinch the screen for zooming in or out.
App Integration: Users access websites through dedicated mobile apps, So, offering an app-like experience with a website would be beneficial.
Now before discussing how to optimize a website for mobile, Let’s do a few things first.
What are the user expectations for mobile-friendly sites?
The habit of browsing from a mobile device for many years has developed certain expectations, with a few of them mentioned below:
Responsive Design: Mobile users expect that the website will be highly responsive, providing a seamless experience during browsing.
Fast Loading: Users want a quick-loading website so that they don’t have to wait for information or purchases. If the website is slow, it can make users irritated or frustrated.
Intuitive Navigation: Mobile-friendly sites should have clear and user-friendly navigation menus that are easy to access and use. Users expect to find what they’re looking for without unnecessary clicks or searching.
Now, Let’s see
How to optimize a website for mobile devices
Let’s discuss the step-by-step process to optimize websites for mobile devices.
1. Speed Optimization for Load Time:
Speed optimization is the most important aspect for any website, whether for desktop or mobile. However, optimizing a website for mobile devices is slightly more challenging and crucial compared to desktop. Here, we will discuss this speed optimization factor on three different levels:
- Hosting or server-level
- Website Development level, and
- Content Optimization Level
- Hosting or server-level: If you are planning to make a website for your business and you purchase a domain, then afterward, you have to purchase hosting for your website. So, before purchasing hosting for your website, you should either seek expert advice or do a little bit of research by yourself. To check web hosting server speed before purchase, check their server location, check if the hosting is using CDN or not, how much their bandwidth is, how that hosting provider’s reviews are online, check their downtime reports, and check whether they offer a free trial or a money-back guarantee or not, etc.
- Website Development Level: After purchasing a good hosting service, now it’s time to plan a fast-loading website. It is a little challenging to make a website fast without planning. Nowadays, there are many fast-loading themes and new technologies to build fast-loading websites. Astra, Generatepress, Oceanwp, and Kadence are fast-loading themes that offer premade templates to create a beautiful website. JavaScript, Python, and TypeScript are the best programming languages for developing fast-loading websites.
- Content Optimization Level: After hosting and website development, content optimization plays an important role in ensuring a fast-loading website. Always avoid using unnecessary web fonts and uploading large-sized photos and videos.
2. Website Stucture & Accessbility:
Laptops and monitors have wide screens, whereas mobile devices do not. Therefore, when we talk about optimizing websites for mobile devices, it becomes a somewhat challenging task. However, having a mobile-friendly website provides an advantage in Google search rankings.
To achieve this, you should structure your website in a way that allows mobile users to easily access and navigate it. The colors, fonts, and buttons on the website should be arranged in a manner that ensures users can effortlessly understand your website and take action without any confusion.
3. Image & Media Optimization:
You should alway post content of your website of your own research and experience whhich will made your website more engaging and google always prefer fresh and unique content to rank higher on google. you should always post your content with high qality and visual graphihcs, Image or vidoe but alsways keep in mind that image sould be not ore thant 50 kb and video shhould be embaded.
4. Typograpy & Font Size:
Content should have legible text with appropriate font sizes. Users shouldn’t have to strain their eyes to read the text on a mobile screen. Avoid uncommon and fancy fonts because these types of fonts are hard to read and can slow down the loading time of your website.
5. Touch-Friendly Elements:
Buttons, links, and interactive elements should be appropriately sized and spaced to accommodate touch gestures. Users expect clickable elements to be easily tappable.
6. Security:
Users expect their data to be secure when interacting with mobile websites. Mobile-friendly sites should have secure connections (HTTPS) and clear privacy policies.
7. Cross-Browser Compatibility:
Users access websites on various mobile browsers. Mobile-friendly sites should function correctly and consistently across different mobile browsers.
8 use tool for optimize for fast loading:
- Google PageSpeed Insights: (https://developers.google.com/speed/pagespeed/insights): This tool analyzes your website’s performance on both desktop and mobile devices, providing suggestions for improvement. It’s an excellent resource for optimizing your site’s loading speed.
- GTmetrix: (https://gtmetrix.com): GTmetrix is another popular tool that measures website speed and provides actionable recommendations for improvement. It offers mobile performance testing as well.
- Pingdom: (https://tools.pingdom.com): Pingdom’s Website Speed Test helps you analyze your site’s load time and performance, including mobile performance.
- WebPageTest (https://www.webpagetest.org): This free tool allows you to test your website’s loading speed and performance from multiple locations and devices, including mobile.
Conclusion
The optimization of a website for mobile devices is as important as having a website in this digitally dominated era. In the above content, we have covered all the aspects of optimizing your website for mobile devices, which will provide a better experience to mobile users.
I understand that some aspects mentioned above may be a bit technical. If you need assistance with improving mobile optimization and achieving higher rankings on Google search pages, please feel free to contact our team at +91-6292111100.
