Mobile-Friendliness

What is mobile-friendliness and why is it a Google ranking metric?

Since 2015, mobile-friendliness has no longer been an option, it’s essential for SEO. With almost 60% of global web traffic coming from mobile devices, Google has adapted its ranking algorithms to reflect this shift. Websites that fail to provide a seamless mobile experience are now at a significant disadvantage in search rankings. Mobile-friendliness is a core Google ranking metric, and understanding how it works can help ensure your website meets Google’s expectations.

What Is mobile-friendliness?

Mobile-friendliness refers to a website’s ability to display and function properly on mobile devices like smartphones and tablets. A mobile-friendly site should provide a seamless experience for users regardless of the device they’re using. This includes:

• Responsive design: The website automatically adjusts to fit the screen size of the device.
• Fast loading times: Pages load quickly on mobile networks.
• Easy navigation: Buttons, menus, and links are easy to tap on smaller screens.
• Readable text: No need for users to zoom in to read the content.
• Minimal pop-ups: Avoid intrusive interstitials that can frustrate mobile users.

Google assesses these factors when determining if a website is mobile-friendly. If your website isn’t optimised for mobile, it’s likely to suffer in search rankings.

Why did Google make mobile-friendliness a ranking metric?

The shift towards mobile-friendliness was driven by user behaviour. Over the past decade, mobile internet usage has skyrocketed. People now rely on their smartphones for everything, including searching for information, shopping, reading news, and more. Google recognised that users expect websites to perform just as well on mobile devices as they do on desktops.

Google’s goal is to deliver the best possible user experience. When users land on a website that is difficult to navigate or slow to load on a mobile device, they’re more likely to bounce off the site quickly, leading to poor engagement metrics like high bounce rates and low session duration. To prevent this, Google prioritises websites that offer a smooth mobile experience.

Here’s a breakdown of the key reasons mobile-friendliness became a ranking factor:

Google introduces mobile-friendliness as a ranking factor

Google’s emphasis on mobile-friendliness began years ago, but there have been a few major milestones that shaped how websites are ranked today:

1. Mobilegeddon (April 21, 2015)

Google’s Mobilegeddon update was the first major push towards prioritising mobile-friendly websites. Announced in early 2015, the update rolled out on April 21, 2015, and sent shockwaves through the SEO community. The update gave preferential treatment in search rankings to mobile-friendly websites, leaving non-compliant sites behind.

The key takeaway from Mobilegeddon was clear: if your site isn’t mobile-friendly, your search rankings will suffer.

2. Mobile-first indexing (announced 2016, rolled out 2018-2021)

Following Mobilegeddon, Google took things a step further with mobile-first indexing. Prior to this, Google primarily crawled and indexed the desktop version of a website. With mobile-first indexing, Google now crawls the mobile version of your website first.

The rollout of mobile-first indexing began in November 2016 and was completed by October 2023. This update essentially made the mobile version of a website the primary version in Google’s eyes. If your mobile site is lacking, your desktop version won’t save you.

Key Google updates related to mobile-friendliness: a timeline

Practical tips to make your website mobile-friendly

Ensuring your website is mobile-friendly doesn’t need to be overly complicated. By following these practical tips, you can optimise your site for mobile users and improve your search rankings.

Use a responsive design

A responsive website automatically adjusts its layout and content to fit any screen size. This ensures that users have a consistent experience on mobile, tablet, and desktop devices.

• Use CSS media queries to make your design adaptable.
• Ensure that images, videos, and text scale properly.

Most modern CMS platforms like WordPress offer responsive themes, which can simplify this process.

Optimise page speed

Mobile users expect fast load times. Google’s Page Experience update takes speed into account, and a slow website can hurt your rankings.

• Compress images to reduce file sizes.
• Use lazy loading to only load images when needed.
• Minimise JavaScript and CSS to speed up rendering.

Use tools like Google PageSpeed Insights to identify areas where your site’s speed can be improved.

Simplify navigation

On mobile devices, navigation should be simple and intuitive. Users shouldn’t struggle to find what they’re looking for.

• Use a hamburger menu for clean navigation.
• Ensure buttons and links are large enough to tap without difficulty.
• Avoid too many dropdown menus, which can be frustrating on mobile.

Make text readable without zooming

One of the most common mobile usability issues is text that’s too small. Ensure your text is legible without zooming.

• Use a font size of at least 16px.
• Ensure sufficient line spacing for readability.

Avoid intrusive pop-ups

Google penalises websites that use intrusive interstitials (pop-ups that cover the screen). These can frustrate users and harm your mobile rankings.

• Use banner-style notifications instead of full-screen pop-ups.
• Make it easy for users to close any pop-ups.

Test your website with Google’s Lighthouse

Google offers a free optimisation tool called Lighthouse (formerly Mobile-Friendly Test tool) that allows you to check if your site meets their mobile usability standards. Simply enter your URL, and the tool will provide a report on any issues that need fixing.

Why mobile-friendliness matters

Mobile-friendliness isn’t just a ranking metric, it’s a fundamental aspect of user experience. If your website doesn’t cater to mobile users, you risk losing traffic, engagement, and conversions. Google’s algorithm updates like Mobilegeddon and mobile-first indexing are a reflection of how users now interact with the web.

Prioritising mobile-friendliness can not only improve your search rankings but also creating a better experience for your audience. In a mobile-first world, staying ahead of the curve means adapting to mobile-first best practices.