Top 10 Tips on How to Make a Website Mobile-Friendly


The future of the Internet is mobile.


Websites that are not mobile-friendly will soon be a thing of the past. With more than half (54.4%) of all internet traffic handled through mobile devices, it's more important than ever to make sure your website looks and works properly on smartphones and tablets.


If your website doesn't look good on a smartphone, your users will leave it and visit a competitor's website that does.


So what does it mean to be mobile-friendly? How can you check if your website is optimized content marketing  for mobile traffic? And most importantly, why is it important that your website is mobile-friendly?


In this post, we will answer all these questions and give you some tips on how to make a website mobile-friendly.


What does it actually mean to be mobile-friendly?


A mobile-friendly website is easy to use on a smartphone or tablet. This means that the layout is easy to navigate and the buttons and links are the right size to be operated with your finger.


Mobile-friendly websites are well optimized content marketing and have a special design that meets the needs of mobile users. Thus, mobile-friendly websites usually also load quickly, as users are often on the go and do not have the patience to wait for a slow-loading website.


Overall, the goal of a mobile-friendly website is to provide users with a positive experience optimized content marketing for the device they are using.


How to check if your website is mobile-friendly


Checking if your website is mobile-friendly is quite easy thanks to the many methods available. Here are some ways you can test your website's mobile friendliness:


Manually resize your website's browser window


The quickest and easiest way to test if your website is mobile-friendly is to simply open it yourself on your smartphone. Simply open your website in a desktop browser and shrink the window to the size of a smartphone. If your website is easy to use and navigate, then it's most likely mobile-friendly. If not, you'll need to make some changes.


Download your website from different devices


Nothing beats good old testing. If you have access to different types of mobile devices, load your website on any device and see how it looks and feels. This will give you a good idea of how your website looks on different screen sizes and allow you to identify areas that need improvement.


Use Google's mobile usability testing tool


Google has a great free tool that analyzes your website and tells you if it's mobile-friendly. All you have to do is enter the URL of your website, and the tool will do the rest.


The Mobile-Friendly Test Tool gives your website a score that indicates how mobile-friendly your website is. You'll also get a list of current issues and actionable actions you can take to fix and improve your website's mobile experience.



Why does your website need to be mobile-friendly?


It's always a smart idea to learn about the many benefits you can get by designing your website in a mobile-friendly way. Why bother if it doesn't really pay off?


Here are some important reasons why it's important to have a mobile-friendly website:


Increase ROI and conversion rate


If your website isn't mobile-friendly, you'll lose potential customers and revenue. Research has shown that 1 in 2 users leave a non-mobile-friendly website and go to a competitor's website.


Mobile friendliness is an important ranking factor


Google has stated that it now uses mobile convenience as a ranking factor in its search algorithm. This means that if your website is not mobile-friendly, you will appear further down in the SERPs than your competitors who are mobile-friendly, and that it will be harder for users to find you online.


The number of mobile users is increasing every year


As more and more people use smartphones and tablets, the number of mobile users is increasing every year. More than half (54.4%) of all Internet traffic now comes from mobile devices.


This trend will continue, so it's important that your website is prepared for it.


In addition to the many obvious benefits for you and your business, this is also in the interest of your users, which will benefit you in the long run.


Positive user experience

A mobile-friendly website provides users with a positive experience optimized content marketing for their devices. This leads to satisfied users, which in turn leads to more referrals and positive testimonials, which in turn leads to more traffic and conversions on your website.

Seamless experience across all devices


A seamless device-to-device user experience is also becoming increasingly important as people use multiple devices throughout their day.


According to Google, 90% of people switch between screens and devices to complete a task. This means that they often start their journey on one device (usually a mobile phone) and then switch to another device (usually a desktop computer) to complete it. For example, many people research their selection on a mobile device before completing the purchase and checkout on their laptop.


Building trust and credibility


And finally, it helps your users to see you in a positive light. Trust and credibility are an important factor when it comes to building and maintaining positive relationships with your users, and creating a mobile-friendly website is a step in the right direction.


10 tips to make your website mobile-friendly

Now that we've explained what it means to be mobile-friendly and why it's important, let's take a look at some tips on how to make a website mobile-friendly.


1. Choose a responsive layout

A responsive layout is a must if you want your website to be mobile-friendly.


It allows the website to adapt and change its layout depending on the device on which it is displayed. Plus, a responsive layout eliminates the need for side-scrolling and zooming, making the experience much more enjoyable for mobile users.


That means your website looks great and is easy to use, no matter what device your users are using.


2. Avoid intrusive pop-ups


Nobody likes pop-ups, especially not on mobile. They are intrusive, difficult to close on a small screen, and are just annoying. It's also hard to get rid of them again – a pop-up with a hard-to-see or non-existent button to close is annoying and the hallmark of a poorly designed mobile site.


If you have pop-ups on your website, make sure they are not intrusive and can be easily closed on a mobile device.


3. Optimize your mobile pages


Today's customers want everything to be quickly and easily accessible, and if that's not the case, they'll quickly move on to something else. 


The same goes for mobile users. If the speed of your website is slow and delayed, your users will leave it and look for a faster website. 


If you want to keep your mobile users happy, you need to make sure that the speed of your website meets the requirements.


Here are some ways to do this:


  • Using a Content Delivery Network (CDN)

  • Optimize your images

  • Optimize your website's code

  • Using browser caching

  • Minimize CSS files

For a complete breakdown of how to optimized content marketing for your website's speed, check out our full guide to common technical SEO issues.


4. Use large font sizes

One of the main differences between desktop and mobile devices is the screen size.


The screens of mobile phones are much smaller, which can make it difficult to read small font sizes.


To make your website mobile-friendly, you should use large font sizes that are easy to read even on a small screen. This will make your website much easier to use for mobile users. Don't forget to test your website on different devices to make sure it looks good and is easy to read.


5. Stick to a minimalist design

Less is more when it comes to mobile design.


A minimalist design is much easier to navigate and use on a small screen. Plus, it will make your website load faster, which is always an advantage.


So stick to a minimalist design when designing your mobile-friendly website and limit yourself to the essentials like your branding, navigation, and content.


You can still add more bells and whistles later, but for now, you should keep it simple.


This will make your website much easier to use on a mobile device and your users will have a positive experience.


6. Make sure the size and placement of the buttons on the phone work


One of the most important things to keep in mind when designing a mobile-friendly website is the size and placement of the buttons.


On a desktop, it's easy to click on a small button or a hard-to-reach spot, but on a mobile phone, that's much harder.


49% of mobile phone users use their thumb to navigate and click on items within range of the thumb. This means that any element that's in the top corners of your site is hard to reach for most users.


To make your website mobile-friendly, you should make sure that all the buttons are large and located in the middle of the screen, where they are easy to reach.


And if you want to go a step further, you can insert a "hamburger" menu icon in the top corner of your website that expands and shows all the navigation options when you click on it.


This way, you can ensure that your mobile users can easily find what they're looking for without having to search through a long list of menu items.


7. Use the viewport meta tag

The viewport meta tag is an HTML element that tells the browser how to adjust the dimensions and scale of the website to match the width of the device screen.


Without this tag, your website won't be responsive and won't adapt to different screen sizes.


To make your website mobile-friendly, you need to include the viewport meta tag in your website's HTML.


Once you've added the tag, you should test your website on different devices to make sure it looks good on all screen sizes.


8. Use media queries

Media queries are a popular technique today and have been developed to make responsive design easier and more effective.


Media queries are responsive CSS code for all screen sizes. They allow you to use certain rules to set different styles for different screen sizes.


For example, you can use a media query to ensure that your website's font size is large enough to be readable on a mobile device.


Or you could use a media query to hide certain elements of your website on mobile devices to make the design easier and more user-friendly.


Media queries are a great way to make sure your website looks and works well on all devices.


9. Make forms easier - turn off autocorrect on your phone


Another important point to consider when designing a mobile-friendly website is forms.


The forms are often long and complex, which can make it difficult to fill out on a mobile device.


To make your forms on your phone easier, turn off the autocorrect feature. This will prevent the keyboard from changing your input and make it easier to fill out your form.


Also, make sure that all form fields are large enough to be easily clicked on mobile devices.


If you have a longer form, you should reduce the number of fields or split the form into multiple pages so that mobile users don't have to scroll through a long list of fields.


10. Continuously test your website on different devices and screen sizes


Since your work is never finished, you should constantly test and optimized content marketing for your website on different devices and screen sizes even after development.


Mobile devices are constantly changing and evolving as new devices and screen sizes are constantly coming onto the market. Therefore, it is important to keep up with the latest trends.


Using the above methods, you can regularly test your website throughout its lifetime. By taking this necessary step, you can identify and fix potential mobile-friendliness issues that may arise.


You can go one step further by testing each user scenario and optimized content marketing for your customers' journey. This allows you to identify potential bottlenecks and make the necessary changes to keep your website running smoothly.


To make your website look and work optimally in every way


Similar to the desktop, the first impression also counts on the mobile phone.


The average user will form a judgement about your website in just a few seconds, so it's important that your website looks and works optimally.


Following the tips and tricks above will make it much easier: put these tips into practice step by step and make your website mobile-friendly. To put the finishing touches on your website, you should include dynamic rendering with JavaScript so that search engine bots can quickly process and index it. Sign up for free with Prerender today to get started. Your users will thank you, regardless of their device.