How to Make WordPress Mobile Friendly: A Guide for Blog Owners
In this day and age, it’s vital that you make your WordPress mobile friendly. In 2016, for the first time, surfing the web using mobile devices surpassed desktops. Mobile traffic now makes up a whopping 51.3 percent of all Internet traffic.
That’s huge.
If you haven’t done that already, take a look at your website and ensure it’s mobile-friendly; otherwise, you’ll lose out on thousands of potential customers.
In light of this, we’ve got some handy tips for you. Let’s dive in!
1. Download a Mobile-Friendly Theme
Nowadays, most WordPress themes are mobile-friendly. These kinds of designs are known as ‘responsive.’ Put simply, they adjust whatever size screen is being used.
If you fall into that unfortunate category of people who don’t have a mobile-friendly theme, there are a few things you can do:
Make sure your theme is up to date. There’s a good chance the latest version of your theme is responsive, so be sure to download the newest version.
Install a plugin that will help you craft a mobile version of your site, such as WP Mobile Edition or JetPack.
However, the latter option can be time-consuming and limit your ability to customize your site. In light of this, it’s probably better just to bite the bullet and choose a new design.
Your Plugins Also Need to Be Responsive
You’d be shocked at how many people neglect this aspect.
For mobile users to have a good experience on your site, you need plugins that boast a responsive design.
Whenever you download a new plugin, whether it’s a contact form or a testimonials widget, you’ll need to make sure it looks great on both desktop and mobile devices.
2. Make Your Site Run Faster on Mobile
People expect your site to load quickly, especially on mobile. So, give your consumers what they want! This improves the overall user experience and boosts your SEO efforts too; it’s a win-win.
About 53 percent of mobile users leave a site if it doesn’t load within three seconds. This number speaks for itself. If conversions matter to you, make sure your website loads quickly.
Firstly, head over to Google PageSpeed Insights and plug in your URL. This gives you a full rundown of how Google rates your page speed (for both desktop and mobile).
Once you’ve figured out why your pages are slow, you can start improving things. For more information on your load time, you can also use tools like Pingdom and GTmetrix. These resources will certainly steer you in the right direction.
In addition to all the above, we thoroughly recommend checking out Google’s Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP). This is a unique HTML markup you can add to your coding to ensure your pages load faster on Google.
To make the most out of AMP on your WordPress site, install the plugin and follow the instructions. It really is as simple as that!
3. Things to Avoid
If you’re keen to boost your site’s mobile-friendliness, there are a few things you need to avoid:
Edit any multimedia elements that don’t work on mobiles.
Whether you’re using videos, GIFs, or audio files, make sure they play correctly for both mobile and desktop users. Otherwise, people can’t fully utilize your site on their mobile devices.
Refrain from using small fonts. Scour through your web pages to ensure your font is at least a 16-point or higher. Google isn’t a fan of tiny fonts for smartphones and tablets.
For more information on things to steer clear of, search for professional mobile marketing services. An experienced company will tell you everything you need to know.
5. Take the Mobile-Friendly Test
You’ll never be sure whether your WordPress site is truly mobile-friendly unless you use Google’s mobile friendliness tool.
Just plug in your URL, and it will tell you what you need to improve. Once you know the issues, you can rectify them.
You can also utilize Google Search Console; there’s a section labeled ‘Mobile Usability’ (located beneath Search Traffic). This gives you further advice on how to optimize your site for mobile-friendliness.
6. Avoid Popups That Cover the Entire Screen
Popups that dominate the whole screen are never a good idea. Even desktop users find them annoying. However, they’re a nightmare for people trying to access your site on mobile devices.
Usually, touch control makes it super hard to get rid of them. This inconvenience can often cause people to leave your site before they’ve had a chance to digest any of your valuable content.
Not cool.
7. Ramp Things Up a Notch
If you want to take mobile-friendliness to the next level, transform your WordPress site into a mobile app.
You can opt for either a progressive or native app. A progressive app is still a site. However, it will function more like an app designed with mobile users in mind.
A native app, on the other hand, requires users to download your app on their smartphones.
If you fancy the idea of a progressive app, download the WordPress Mobile Pack plugin, and you’ll have things live within minutes!
Did You Find This Advice on How to Make WordPress Mobile Friendly Useful?
If you enjoyed these tips on how to make WordPress mobile friendly, we’re confident you’ll love the other posts on our digital marketing blog.
Over there we talk about everything from PPC strategies to branding hacks. Enjoy!
For more information on inbound marketing, claim your free Article City account. This is a terrific resource for anyone who wants to improve their current strategies!
