Creating Mobile-Friendly Content For Your Business
We live in a world where over half of all internet activity comes from smartphones and tablets. Without a doubt, mobile traffic has already overtaken desktop traffic worldwide, and that trend is only going to continue as more people switch to using mobile devices for consuming content.
A mobile-friendly website is no longer an option – it has become a necessity. But what does “mobile-friendly” actually mean? And more importantly, how can you create content that is both useful and engaging for mobile users? Below, we’ll discuss the basics of creating mobile-friendly content and give you some tips on how to get started.
What Being Mobile-Friendly Can Do For Your Business
We’ve all witnessed the explosion of mobile use in the past decade. In fact, there are almost 5 billion mobile internet users worldwide today. Just over the past 12 months, the number of unique mobile users grew by a whopping 91 million. One study revealed that 87% of smartphone users check their devices within an hour before going to sleep and within an hour after they wake up. Another report claims that, on average, a regular smartphone owner will click, tap or swipe their phone 2,617 times a day. All these stats and figures point to one thing – if you’re not mobile-friendly, you’re missing out on a massive opportunity to reach and engage with your audience.
Google is well aware of that, and it has been changing its algorithms to reflect the growing importance of mobile traffic. In 2015, “Mobilegeddon” was introduced, which was an update that gave preference to mobile-friendly websites in search results. In 2018, it started indexing all content on the web using a mobile-first approach. This means that Google looks at the mobile version of your website first when crawling and indexing your content. If you don’t have a mobile site, or if your mobile site is not up to par, your rankings will suffer.
And while creating a mobile-friendly website and mobile-friendly content is not an easy task, it’s well worth it because the benefits are significant. For starters, you’ll be able to reach a wider audience and tap into the growing market of mobile users. You’ll also be able to improve your search engine rankings and make your website more visible in search results.
In addition, you’ll be able to provide a better user experience for your visitors, which can lead to increased traffic and higher conversion rates. With all these and more, you have the potential to stay ahead of the competition and take your business to the next level. Here’s an example of what our website looks like on mobile. As you can see, the writing is clear and the page is optimized to be viewed easily via phone.
Understanding the Mobile Experience
As you may already know, some key differences make mobile reading a unique experience compared to reading on a desktop. For one thing, people usually read on their mobile devices in shorter bursts than they do on their desktops. This means that they are more likely to skim content and focus on headlines rather than reading every word.
The next one has to do with how we hold our phones: upright and close to our face, instead of at arm’s length like we do with laptops or desktop monitors. This difference in proximity changes how our eyes move when we’re reading on a phone. Instead of scanning smoothly across the screen, our eyes make what’s called a “subvocal saccade” every time they reach the end of a line and have to jump back to the beginning of the next one.
Another difference is that people often read while they are doing other things, such as commuting or taking a break at work.
This multitasking can lead to shallower processing of the text, which means that they might not be able to give most content pieces their full attention, thus affecting the level of comprehension. All these factors related to mobile reading can affect the overall mobile experience and how you should create your content for it. Mobile experience refers to how users perceive your website or app while they’re using it on their mobile devices.
Over the past few years, people have become used to high-performing, seamless mobile experiences. In fact, most of them expect to have that kind of experience from every business they encounter across different industries. This means that now more than ever, prioritizing your mobile user base is a must when you’re creating various mobile touchpoints. These include your content and all its elements.
Tips for Creating Engaging, Mobile-Friendly Content
Now that you have a better understanding of the mobile experience and why it matters, let’s take a look at some tips on creating engaging, mobile-friendly content.
1. Craft compelling headlines and introductions.
A smaller screen means less available real estate to get your message across. You need to be able to share the most relevant information in your headlines and introductions since mobile readers see these first. To encourage them to read your content further, you need to be able to hook them and leave them wanting more.
Ideally, you should be crafting intriguing headlines for your readers to want to read the introduction. Next, you need to be able to get to the point quickly when writing your introductions. They must be compelling and engaging enough to keep the attention of mobile visitors, who typically spend 3 minutes or less when looking through online content.
2. Keep it concise and make it scannable.
As mentioned earlier, mobile users usually skim through content instead of reading it word for word. This is why it’s important to make your content concise and scannable. You can do this by keeping your sentences and paragraphs short. You should also use bullet points, lists, and other formatting techniques that can help break down your content and make it easier to digest.
When drafting your content, you should consider reading ease. Avoid using difficult words – those with less than four syllables are more ideal. If you have to use technical terms or jargon, ensure you provide a simple explanation for it. Be straightforward and don’t overcomplicate the points you want to convey. Additionally, using an active voice as much as possible can help make the meaning of your content clear for readers and keep the sentences from becoming too wordy.
3. Make key information easily accessible.
When creating content for mobile, it’s best to give mobile users what they want – and fast. This means that you need to make key information easily accessible. Placing your call-to-action (CTA) buttons above the fold is one way to do this. This ensures that visitors can see it without having to scroll down. Another way to make key information easily accessible is by using links and anchor text. You can use these to direct readers to the most important parts of your content. Just make sure that the links and anchor text are placed strategically, so readers can find them easily. Since the attention of mobile users is often limited, it’s also a good idea to include a summary or a highlights section. These can appear at the top of your content or even in the last paragraph. It should include key takeaways that can provide the information sought out by your readers.
Lastly, you should always include key details such as pricing information, nearby store locations, contact numbers, and directions whenever applicable. This way, you can give mobile users the specific information they need so they can take action even while on the go.
4. Keep the interface clean and simplify the formatting.
The mobile interface should be clean and easy to navigate. This means using a simple design with a minimal amount of clutter. You also want to make sure that the formatting is simplified for mobile. Stick to one-column layouts and use a highly-legible typeface with a font size of at least 12 points. Other best practices for formatting your content for small screens include using bullet points and sub headers and keeping paragraphs short. You also want to make sure there’s enough white space around your content so it’s not cramped up on the screen. To further increase readability, it’s a good idea to use highly contrasting colours, such as dark text on a white background.
5. Add images, videos, and other content formats.
Different types of media are great for breaking up large chunks of text to enhance reading on mobile devices. Aside from images and videos, which are commonly used, you can also try adding interactive tools, infographics, or even clickable slideshows.
All these can add visual appeal to your content and keep readers on your site longer. In fact, some studies show that visuals are processed up to 600 times faster than text. They can help improve the overall user experience since they provide additional information that can supplement your written content. For example, take a look at how the content scheduling platform, Later, embeds Instagram Reels into one of their blog posts by clicking the link.
Just like with any other kind of content, it’s important to ensure that the visuals you’re using are relevant and add value to your piece. They should also be optimized for mobile viewing. This means that they should be the right size and resolution so that they don’t take too long to load on a mobile device. Additionally, you should also consider using AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages) to further improve your content’s loading speed. This open-source framework allows you to create lightweight pages that load almost instantly on mobile devices.
6. Make sure that your site works well on mobile.
This last tip might be a bit obvious, but it’s still worth mentioning. After all, 46 percent of people say that an interruptive mobile experience will keep them from purchasing from a brand again, according to a report from Google. If your website isn’t responsive or the page load time isn’t optimized, you’re likely to lose out on many potential conversions. To avoid this, it’s important to regularly test your site on different mobile devices. This way, you can identify any issues and address them right away. It’s also a good idea to get feedback on the overall mobile usability of your site. You can do this by conducting surveys or user testing.
Furthermore, it’s important to keep your site updated with the latest mobile trends and technologies. By doing this, you can be sure that your site will provide an optimal experience for mobile users for years to come.
Conclusion
Mobile devices have become an integral part of our everyday lives. They’ve changed the way we consume content, which is why it’s important to understand how to create mobile-friendly content. By following the tips mentioned above, you can ensure that your content is engaging and easily accessible to all your mobile readers. If you want to learn more about how to create great mobile content that can accelerate your ranking in less time, download our free SEO eBook today.
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