Living in an age where technology and its uses are constantly evolving, it comes as no surprise that in recent years, people of all ages, minds, and professions have become more dependent on their mobile devices.
I don’t know about you, but I find I am always using my phone to search and surf the web. If I’m driving I have my kids look things up for me; with limitless searches online I no longer dread waiting in line at my favourite coffee spot every morning; I look up restaurants while I’m already on the go; and I can use the Internet to make purchases, settle bets, check the weather… the possibilities are endless!
There is no doubt about it – mobile surfing is ubiquitous!
Not convinced? Check out some of these stats
- Mobile devices (tables and smartphones) now account for 60% of all online traffic
- 80% of the global market has phones
- 80% of Internet users own a smartphone
- More than 87% of smartphone users have used their mobile device to look for local information
Why does this matter you ask?
Google has decided to channel their focus toward mobile friendly content. This means that Google will prioritize sites and content that have been enhanced for mobile viewing, which will result in more favourable rankings for mobile friendly sites.
These changes force web designers and editors to create mobile-ready designs and content that will guarantee relevance and highly ranked pages in our searches.
As of April 21st, 2015, Google will heavily favour websites that have mobile-friendly versions. This means mobile sites can rank higher in search results and will be labeled as mobile-friendly if their content is optimized for viewing on a mobile device.
How does this affect your Carleton cms site?
The Techie Bits
We understand the importance of mobile-ready and have already taken care of the nitty gritty tech stuff for you. All of the sites that we build in our content management system (cms) are mobile friendly. They are designed to be responsive, which means that they will adjust to suit any screen size (phone, tablet, desktop). This is the best, most flexible way to build mobile friendly sites and meets all of Google’s new search criteria.
What you Can Do
Keep in mind that usability trumps aesthetic. Focus on content that is useful and organized in a way that makes sense:
- Make your content easy to read. It should be, written in a conversational tone and broken up with headers and subheaders so that it can be scanned. Users won’t scan through reams of text on their phone.
- Organize your navigation and pages in a way that is clear so that users can easily find what they are looking for. You may need to prioritize and remove some items from a huge navigation menu. There is far less screen real estate on a phone than a desktop monitor!
- Keep image file sizes small. Speed matters when it comes to mobile and users won’t wait for huge files to download. Slow sites will be abandoned on mobile devices.
- Check out your site on your phone. How does it look? How quickly does it load? Is it easy to find things?
The mobile web is a place for fresh, innovative ideas and designs that will appeal to all and you have the opportunity to reach even more people than before!
Want to know if your webpage is mobile-friendly? Google has offered an easy solution! Simply click on this link and paste your website address into the bar provided. Shortly after, you will have your answer!