Many business owners have postponed or avoided optimizing their sites for mobile devices, and it has been fairly unclear how exactly an effective mobile site actually helps SEO rankings up to this point, but starting April 21, that’s all going to change.

Google is about to put into effect a major algorithm change that will change the way mobile friendliness is determined. Starting on April 21, this new algorithm will be gradually rolled out worldwide. As you are probably aware, a good majority of Google searches are now performed on mobile devices, so it makes sense that Google wants to capitalize on this traffic and ensure the best possible experience for its users. You can read the official announcement here.

So what does this mean for your business’ mobile site? You need to prepare to have it optimized for this Google mobile update. You can learn more about the update and what it means here, and once you have a handle on what Google expects, you can get to work. We have put together a checklist below that can help you prepare for the Google mobile site update.

A Checklist to Keep Close to Prepare for the Mobile Update on April 21

Keep in mind that the checklist below doesn’t focus on the “how” so much as the “what” of mobile optimization. It’s a good list to help you make sure you’ve covered all of your bases. For information on how to check these items off, visit the many Google help and support pages:

  • Make your site look and feel as “slick” as possible on smartphones and tablets.

  • Make sure your site works flawlessly on all types of devices—especially smartphones and tablets.

  • You have two choices for mobile optimization: (A) You can have a single website that displays content responsively for different device and browser types; aka a ‘responsive web design.’ Or, (B) you can create a standalone dedicated mobile website separate from your main website. Most people prefer an all-in-one responsive site, and it is possible that with the new update, Google will prefer it as well.

  • Are you are struggling to work on optimizing your site for mobile? If your answer is YES, leave it to the pros. It is often the case that mobile optimization can be too complicated and time-consuming to go in-house—if you are in this situation, get a professional ASAP.

  • If you haven’t picked a mobile optimization platform, choose one that offers a broad array of automatically mobile-friendly, attractive website designs, features and themes, and premium add-ons.

  • If you are lost on web design, then hiring a contract web designer for the job is also an option, (though it could potentially cost more than using an online solution). If you do choose to get a contractor for your site then hire locally and check customer references before committing.

  • Make sure that you have required mobile features that are relevant to your business. For example, if you have an e-commerce site, then you should have an optimized shopping cart in your mobile design. If you are in the retail business, make sure you prominently display your store address, hours, and a link to driving directions as well.

  • Set up a “click-to-call” phone number. All mobile users will have to do is click the number and their smartphone will call you, allowing them to instantly get ahold of your business. This is obviously a MUST-HAVE for mobile optimization.

  • Is your social media integrated? Doing this is like free advertising—It allows your mobile site visitors to post on your behalf to their social media accounts.

  • Consider getting a deal-tracking service (a good one is Hukkster—Users can sign up with either a Facebook or Google account). This will make it easier for your users to share their favorite product discounts on a social platform, thereby generating more business for you!

  • Depending on the business you are in, consider integrating Instagram, Twitter or Pinterest into your mobile site. If you are likely to see more microblogging then Twitter is a good option, and if you are expected to utilize more visual promotion then Instagram or Pinterest is likely a good option. (A word of caution: Whichever social platforms you choose, you should limit yourself to only two or three social media sharing buttons)

  • Test-drive your mobile site before launch! This will allow you to discover and weed out bad links, confusing navigation and any other functionality issues.

  • Try to get a hands-on feel for what works and what does not. Have as many people test on as many browsers as possible, and don’t be afraid to ask for feedback.

  • Track your ongoing success with Google Analytics. Using their tool you can easily see how many people visit your mobile site, from which kind of devices, and how often. It will also provide you with demographic information, like where they live, how they found your site, and much more.

  • Avoid the commonly made mistakes. Consider what kind of devices (Android, iPhone/Apple, etc.) will be viewing your website.

  • Consider your target audience. Who is most commonly visiting your site? What kinds of tools, links, and layout would that demographic prefer.

  • Make sure that your design isn’t crowded, specifically that links that aren’t too close together for people’s fingers to accurately click.

  • Optimize image sizes for mobile bandwidth. You can check out here for an example of a good use of images that work on mobile.

  • If you have an app that makes your site easier to access, make sure that the link to download is not annoying, and that it will actually create a desire to click on the link to download.

  • Simplify. After giving your site a test run, figure out what key pieces of information your visitors will probably be looking for and make this the prominent part of your site. Climate excess links, texts, and logos that you do not need.

  • Keep the number of pages to a minimum and make sure that you plan your site’s layout. Again, this is where hiring a contractor or designer may come in handy.

  • Utilize white space and keep it clean! Do not just try to cram in as much information as possible. White space will give a cleaner, more sophisticated appearance, and it also ensures that users can easily click the button they’re aiming for.

  • Reduce the amount of text entry necessary. Many people have trouble typing on tiny keyboards. To avoid keypad frustration, use dropdown menus, checklists and pre-populated fields as a means of data entry.

  • Use Mobile Redirects. Once your site is ready to go, make sure to put redirects in place that will detect when a visitor is using a mobile device. This will likely be a very important part of the Google update this April.

  • Allow people the option to visit the full site if they want to. It is tempting to ignore this because you have put so much effort into optimizing for mobile, but sometimes people will prefer the full site (especially on larger tablets) so be sure to allow for this option.

The Takeaway

Mobile sites are an incredibly important part of having a website, especially in consideration of the Google update coming soon. Go through this checklist and make sure that you are considering every aspect of developing your mobile site before April hits. I also highly recommend visiting here to learn more about franchise mobile SEO or mobile efforts if you have multiple locations. This will allow you all of the SEO and marketing benefits when this is fully integrated into the Google search engine.

Have you created a mobile website for your business? Do you have experience finding what works and what does not? We would love to read your comments in the section below!