Tips for mobile optimizing your website
81% of Americans now own smartphones. In 2019, Google reported that a whopping 63% of all searches were done on mobile devices. Given this information, it’s safe to assume that your customers are looking at and searching for your restaurant on their smartphones. But are you ready for this? For the uninitiated, mobile-optimization is the process of making small improvements to the way your website looks and acts when viewed on a mobile phone. Most websites are designed for desktop use, but are increasingly viewed on mobile. Here are some tips for how to take easy action steps and start optimizing your website today.
Test Your Page Speed
You can get started by testing the speed of your page to make sure it’s loading quickly and properly on mobile devices. You can utilize a free tool like Google Page Speed Insights for this. A common mistake is that websites will use large banner images or videos on their homepage that take longer to load and hinder the functioning of your device on mobile. Check your speed and then take action accordingly.
Add a Mobile Optimization Plugin
Some website platforms like WordPress allow administrators to add plugins to help them optimize their website for mobile. If you are already using a visual editor like Visual Composer or Elementor, you can specify the types of devices that will display certain elements and use that as a way to increase load-times and create mobile-friendly content. There are also some great suggestions here of plugins that can help you.
Don’t Forget Touch
When you’re designing your site for mobile, keep in mind that some responsiveness elements that are intuitive on desktop may not be on mobile. For example, if you have an image that on desktop when the mouse is placed over it changes to display information, you may want to change this element for mobile. If something is a tappable link on mobile, you should make that obvious. And beware of hover options or menus and how they load on your mobile site.
Designing a website and need help making it mobile-friendly? Sherane Chen, LLC can help! Contact us today or call (386) 627-3628 for a consultation!