There are two possible ways: either you have a smartphone in your pocket right now, or you are reading this text on it. And that is the main reason why your website should become the BFF with mobile devices.
1. Start Small (Screen)
If you are just planning to create a website, congratulations, you can start that the right way! And the best way is to start with a mobile-first approach. If you still doubt that, let’s check the latest Mary Meeker Internet Trends 2019 report. Data about daily media usage shows that people in the US spend 3.6 hours on their phones on average. For comparison, it’s 2 hours on their computers.
Since people are using their phones so much, it is a good idea to craft your website for mobile users first. And only then work your way up to the bigger screens. If you need more proof, Google has plenty. In Google Webmaster Central Blog they state that they are promoting the mobile-first approach to better help their – primarily mobile – users find what they’re looking for.
2. Make Great Small Again
If you already have a running desktop website, don’t worry too much. It is still possible to make it mobile-friendly. You only need to convert it. And there are two ways to do that: either using an online service or with Content management system (CMS) plugins.
As for online services, you should know that they will cost you. Subscriptions vary around 19$/month. But you pay for reliable service. It includes an instant conversion with automatic image and content adjustment. Some services even provide professional support for developers when they need some advice.
No matter your choice: WordPress, Joomla or Drupal, all have their converting plugins for this matter. Some of them are free, and sometimes there is a payment for premium features. These plugins put your desktop website content into their created themes. You can specify those for your personal needs.
3. Say Yes To A Responsive Theme
As for the previous example, there would be different themes for desktop and mobile users. A responsive theme, on the other hand, is the same on every screen. When created with a responsive theme, the design is already mobile-friendly. Keep in mind that the best responsive themes aren’t free. But they save you time when working on a single theme instead of two separate ones.
4. Forget The Flash In A… Flash
If you are looking for a slowly working website, that would be ignored by the search engines, Flash can help. But if you have greater plans than this, avoid the Flash. When creating your website, using with your fast internet, remember, that not all people have the same conditions. For those with a slower connection, your website with Flash can become a misery.
As for search engines, not all are able to collect and index the content displayed within Flash. It can make your SEO work way harder than it needs to be. Adobe states that they will stop updating and distributing the Flash Player at the end of 2020. If they are abandoning it, so should you.
5. But Don’t Forget The Need For Speed
Your website should load fast on every screen. But keep in mind that mobile users might be on-the-go, so for them, the loading time is critical. In their marketing research Google stated that 53% of mobile site visits leave a page that takes longer than three seconds to load. You should do everything you can, to fit in those three seconds.
To maintain a fast loading speed, you should choose the most suitable hosting plan. For faster mobile performance, web hosting provider Hostinger suggests that Cloud or VPS Hosting would do the trick. After selecting a fast and reliable hosting provider, take care of the content. Reduce the number of posts on the front page, resize your images, remove unnecessary buttons.
6. Let The Accelerated Mobile Pages Do The Work
Despite your website’s size, Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) can make it seem smaller. And therefore load faster. AMP is one of Google projects, they claim to make your website more mobile-friendly by boosting its speed. The trick they do is that they use compressed data. When it’s done, Google even shows a special lighting logo in mobile search results, to promote AMP websites.
You might be creating your website on a computer, but there is a big chance that people will browse it on their mobiles. Be ready for it. Make your website and a mobile phone best friends forever by optimizing it the right way.