Is your content mobile-first?

Today, more traffic is coming from mobile devices than from desktops. So in order to stay competitive, it is vital to ensure your content is mobile-first
10 April 2018

Is your content optimized for your mobile-dependent audience? Source: Reuters/Dado Ruvic/Illustration

T oday, we are past the stage where “mobile-friendly’ is enough. In an age where mobile devices have pretty much become the third arm of millennials, it’s time to think “mobile first”.

With more than half of digital content consumption happening on mobile devices, a responsive design is essential in order to attract and retain customers who rely on mobile to locate information, browse, and make purchases.

How should our websites, our content, and our content strategy align with a mobile-first goal?

Speed is key

When it comes to mobile websites, speed is a vital determinant of success. According to research from Google, 53 percent of mobile site visitors exit a page which takes longer than three seconds to load.

Today’s consumers want to get rapid results when browsing for their weekend outfit, they want to be able to pay an online bill quickly before they nip off to do the school run, and they desire the ability to view an article immediately upon clicking a link.

Findings from the same Google research reveal that today the average time it takes for a page to load is around 15 seconds – far too slow considering the aforementioned finding.

What does this mean for you? Those businesses who can get their site to load in three seconds or less will win over many time-constrained consumers and gain an edge over the competition. Ultimately, a speedy site will equate to more website traffic, increased leads, and more sales.

Are you certain your site works on mobile devices?

While making a mobile site is all well and good, it is important to ensure optimum responsiveness on whichever device it is accessed on.

Ensure the back-end you are using is an updated version. Most new WordPress themes and site platforms are designed to be responsive, so if you are currently using an old version, it would be wise to consider an update.

On top of this, it is crucial to test everything thoroughly. For instance, click on every page to ensure everything looks how it should, submit every form, share pages to social media, test placing an order, and play video content.

You can even ask your website visitors for feedback on its usability. This will inform you of what you may need to improve on.

Make key information easy to access

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Users will want quick access to key information. Source: Shutterstock

The main desire for mobile site users is the ability to be able to access key information fast. According to an infographic from Econsultancy, the information that consumers want the most is information on pricing, locations near them, and directions.

Despite this being the most sought-after information by consumers, one report found that only 55 percent of businesses display their location and contact number. And a lot fewer have directions and pricing information.

Snackable content

When it comes to the size of your content, mobile users tend to prefer brevity. In order to keep your visitors engaged, it is best to try and tell your story in fewer words.

Mobile users are easily distracted, so be sure to include only essential copy to keep their attention.

A good way to offer concise and snappy content while still offering the long-form content much loved by Google is to provide a summary to your readers.

Offer a variety of content formats

Many mobile site users want more than just text; most notably video. You barely need to scroll through your Facebook News Feed to understand how prolific video has become.

According to Adweek, more than 10 billion videos and three billion images are viewed every day across social media platforms.

Offering your audience this kind of content will increase the likelihood of them staying on your site longer. Pick out your most visited text-based content and turn it into a video in order to further increase engagement.