Mobile friendliness
Ready to take your digital marketing to the next level? Then it's time to take a closer look at the mobile-friendliness of your website. More and more people are browsing the web via their smartphone. So if you want to drive traffic to your website, it's time to take a look at why mobile-friendliness is so important to strengthen your digital marketing strategy.
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What is mobile-friendliness?
In the digital age we live in, it's important to ensure that your website is accessible to all users - no matter what device they use to browse the web. Smartphones are on the rise and the vast majority of us use our smartphones to find information, make purchases and interact with businesses online.
That's why it's essential that your website works just as well on a smartphone as it does on a computer. This is where the concept of 'mobile-friendliness' comes into play.
Mobile-friendliness refers to the design and structure that makes a website easy to navigate and read on a mobile device. A mobile-friendly website has shorter blocks of text, large, easy-to-read fonts and buttons that are large enough to be pressed with a finger.
Why mobile-friendliness and SEO are inextricably linked
Having a mobile-friendly website isn't just a convenience for your visitors - it's also a crucial aspect of digital marketing and search engine optimization.
Google has made it clear that mobile-friendliness is a ranking factor, meaning that websites that are optimized for mobile use are likely to rank higher in search results than those that are not.
If your SEO strategy doesn't take mobile-friendliness into account, it's probably time to get out the SEO toolbox and shake things up.
How do you make your website mobile-friendly?
Making your website mobile-friendly doesn't have to be a daunting and overwhelming task.
- First of all, test your current website to see how mobile-friendly it is. Google offers a free tool that can give you an idea of what works and what can be improved.
- Next, you should consider the design of your website. If you need to create a new website or update your current one, it's worth considering responsive web solutions. A responsive design is one that automatically adapts to the screen size of the device used to view it. This ensures that whether someone is visiting your website from a smartphone, tablet, or computer, they will have an optimal experience.
- Once you've updated the design, it's time to think about the structure of the text. On a mobile device, it's best to keep sentences short and easy to read. Long blocks of text can be hard to follow on a small screen.
- Finally, it's worth remembering that mobile-friendliness isn't just about design and structure. The speed of your website is also crucial. A website that takes a long time to load can cause visitors to click out again and affect your ranking in search results.
- As a final piece of advice, it's worth noting that you can't just "fix" your mobile-friendliness once and expect your website to perform SEO-wise. Mobile-friendliness is a continuous project because technology is rapidly evolving and constantly changing. It's important to keep up with the latest trends to ensure your website remains relevant and accessible.
A four-step guide to mobile-friendliness
If you really want to delve into strategies to optimize your mobile-friendliness, we've put together a number of more technical points for you to consider.
Run a Crawl Errors Report
With Google Search Console you can identify any crawl errors or 404 errors on your site. It's important to avoid these errors because they can affect your site's visibility and ranking in search results.
Explore the Mobile Usability Report
Your Usability Report is an important feature in Google Search Console. The report provides insights into your site's performance in relation to mobile traffic. Use Google's Page Speed Insights to see if your changes are having an effect.
Run a Fetch and Render Test
This test is also available in Google Search Console and tells you if Google has access to all your pages. The results will indicate if there are areas to improve or errors to fix.
Use the Page Speed Insight Tool
One of the most effective tools to test your site's speed and performance.
Pros and cons of server site and client site tracking
There are both advantages and disadvantages to the two tracking methods:
Server-side tracking - pros and cons
Benefits:
- More accurate data collection as it is less affected by AdBlockers and browser technologies like ITP.
- Improved website performance as tracking scripts do not burden the user's browser.
- Higher levels of data protection and privacy compliance.
Disadvantages:
- Technically more complex and may require advanced development resources.
- Potentially higher server operation costs.
Client-side tracking - pros and cons
Benefits:
- Easier to implement and manage as it often involves standard cookies and JavaScript.
- Good for real-time data and user-level interaction tracking.
Disadvantages:
- More vulnerable to AdBlockers, browser settings and privacy technologies like ITP.
- Can negatively affect website load speed and user experience.
- Reduced precision in data collection due to limitations of browser-based tracking.
Server-site tagging adds value to your business
Server-side tagging is a game changer for businesses that want to optimize their online presence. With server-side tagging, you get more accurate and reliable data on how users interact with your website.
This means you can make informed decisions based on your customers' behavior and preferences.
Your business benefits from server-site tagging:
- Better decision-making for your business/marketing as you have a more accurate picture of your marketing channels.
- Server-site tagging can have a significant impact on your business/marketing decisions if you are missing up to 20%-40% of your data.
- Streamline advertising budgets when you advertise.
Setting up server-site tracking
Setting up server-site tracking requires technical know-how and can be a bit challenging if you're not used to working with tracking, and the setup has several stages:
- Choosing a platform: First you need to choose the right platform. Google Tag Manager offers a server-side variant, which is popular. Consider the options based on your specific needs and the technology you already use.
- Server setup: You need a dedicated server to run your server-side tracking. This can be hosted via Google Cloud or another cloud service like AWS or Azure.
- Configuring Tag Manager: In Google Tag Manager, you need to create a server-side container. This step requires a basic understanding of how Google Tag Manager works.
Integration with analytical tools: Integrate server-side tracking with your analytical tools, such as Google Analytics, Facebook Pixel, etc. - Test and validate: Conduct thorough tests to ensure tracking works correctly and collects the desired data.
- Monitoring and maintenance: Continuous monitoring and maintenance is necessary to ensure that your server-side tracking remains accurate and efficient.
More concepts
Want to learn more digital marketing terms? Our digital dictionary is full of them - and we're constantly updating it.
