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Mobile First Initiative – Aim Small, Think BIG

by | Mobile

What Every Small Business Needs to Know: Mobile First Initiatives

 

 

Mobile First Initiative Strategy for Small Business Owners

 

If you haven’t started working on a Mobile First Initiative for your small business, now is the time! This has become even more important recently as Google has rolled out a Mobile Intrusive Interstitials Penalty.

 

For those who are new to the mobile friendly website topic, I’ve included a few notes Cazbah has published along the way to help get you up to speed. Those who are aware of the importance of a responsive and mobile friendly website, simply click the following link to skip this section or scroll down to the section titled, What is Mobile First Initiative?

 

 

Mobile Friendly Website Topics
Importance of a Modern Website
In 2014, I shared a blog post that covered the Importance of a Modern & Quality Website with you. This is when we all began to notice there was a huge shift in the way users were accessing the internet. Instead of desktop computers, mobile phones became the preferred device for quickly obtaining information on the web. At the time of this post, Cisco Systems forecasted the number of mobile phone searches was expected to increase by seven (7) times by 2017.

And of course, the most recent forecast put out by Cisco Systems has clearly indicated the growth of internet searches on mobile phones has completely exploded and is happening much faster than anyone could have ever anticipated. This was the beginning of a trend that would change search and buying patterns forever.   Read More ➤

Mobile-Friendly Websites Rank Higher On Google (2015)
As we all began to watch and become a part of this new mobile phone trend, the increase in demand for connecting things began to rise as well. This is the year Google announced they would be expanding their use of mobile-friendliness as a ranking signal. The internet had ultimately transformed and given us the freedom to communicate and work on any device in any location. Mobile phones had exceeded desktop use with seemingly unlimited apps and ease of use.

This is when Google rolled out their Mobile Friendly Website Testing Tool. It’s still a great tool to use when you want to check and make sure you have the best mobile-friendly website a small business could possibly have.   Read More ➤

Mobile Friendly Websites (2017)
This brings us to my most recent article, Small Businesses Need Mobile Friendly Websites. A day after submitting this article is when Google confirmed rolling out the mobile intrusive interstitials penalty. Of course, this was no shock to many of us at all. It was only a matter of time before Google began following the trend that has been taking place over the past few years.  Read More ➤
Mobile Intrusive Interstitials Penalty (2017)
A great article, written by Mike Farney, which provides more in depth details about mobile intrusive interstitials. Click on the following link to learn more about the mobile intrusive interstitials and reasons as to why you should avoid them. Read More ➤

What is Mobile First Initiative?

 

Great question! A mobile first initiative is a business strategy which assumes smartphones, tablets, and apps are the primary tools used to view your website. Whether an employee needs to accomplish a specific task, or an end user who wishes to place an order, submit a request form, or someone wants to contact you directly from their mobile phone, these are situations where your business needs to provide mobile capability.

 

Mobile First Strategy

 

The truth is, if Google is focused on providing the user with the best experience possible, then you should too! Here are a few things to consider to move your business toward a mobile first initiative:

 

  • All pages on your website should be reader-friendly without having to zoom
  • Phone number and address should be visible and clickable
  • Navigation and content should be easy to locate (this includes making sure mobile ads are responsive and avoid use of ‘intrusive intervals’)
  • Use Analytics (Audience: Mobile > Overview) to get to know your customers and their preferred device
  • Identify and document hurdles that need to be addressed in order for you to move forward with a Mobile First Initiative for your small business

 

Mobile First Indexing

 

Google has expressed their understanding in regards to this being an important shift in their indexing and one they take seriously. In their effort to assist us, they have provided a few recommendations to help webmasters, marketing consultants and businesses move toward a mobile first initiative.

 

  • If you have a responsive site or a dynamic serving site where the primary content and markup is equivalent across mobile and desktop, you shouldn’t have to change anything.
  • If you have a site configuration where the primary content and markup is different across mobile and desktop, you should consider making some changes to your site.
  • If you are a site owner who has only verified their desktop site in Search Console, please add and verify your mobile version.
  • If you only have a desktop site, we’ll continue to index your desktop site just fine, even if we’re using a mobile user agent to view your site.
  • If you are building a mobile version of your site, keep in mind that a functional desktop-oriented site can be better than a broken or incomplete mobile version of the site.

 

Does My Mobile Website Meet Google’s Standards?

 

If you’re uncertain as to whether or not your site or a specific web page meets Google’s standards for mobile friendliness, simply click the following link to run a Mobile Friendly Test. Once the test is complete, the result page will be served up providing details pertaining to loading status, mobile friendliness along with additional resources.

As always, I welcome any questions or comments.

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Importance of Mobile Friendly Websites:

Sources Include: