The Essential Guide to Mobile-Friendly Websites

In the year 2023, having a website that is optimized for mobile devices is no longer a choice, but rather an essential. Here we explore about The Essential Guide to Mobile-Friendly Websites: Maximizing Engagement and Conversions in 2023

Mobile traffic has surpassed desktop traffic in many countries with the exponential growth of smartphone users worldwide.

So, if you haven’t optimized your website for mobile devices, you’re missing out on valuable opportunities to engage and convert your mobile audience.

Google, the leading search engine, recognizes the significance of mobile usability. So, they have introduced tools like the Mobile-Friendly Websites Test to help you assess and improve your website’s mobile compatibility.

Understanding the Mobile-Friendly Test

The Mobile-Friendly Test provided by Google’s Search Console is a user-friendly tool. It allows you to evaluate the mobile-friendliness of your website’s pages.

Besides, its simple interface enables you to input the URL of the web page you wish to test. Also, the test typically completes within a minute.

Finally, the test results provide you with a screenshot of how your page appears on a mobile device, along with a list of any mobile usability problems detected during the analysis.

Identifying Mobile Usability Issues

Generally, Google scans your webpage for various mobile usability issues, when conducting the Mobile-Friendly Test.

These issues can significantly impact how users experience your website on mobile devices.

Some common problems include small font sizes that are challenging to read on smaller screens and the use of Flash, which is not supported by most mobile devices.

So, the test report generated by Google outlines these issues, allowing you to prioritize and address them effectively.

Running the Mobile-Friendly Test

To run the Mobile-Friendly Test, follow these simple steps:

1. If you’re trying to fix mobile usability issues for a specific page that Google Search points to (the indexed page), ensure that you test the canonical URL (the primary version of the page recognized by search engines).

2. Type the URL you want to test in the provided text box and click “Test URL.”

3. Google will fetch the requested URL, mimicking a mobile device.

If your website redirects mobile devices to a different URL or employs linked AMP pages, the test will fetch the appropriate URL for analysis. But it won’t explicitly indicate the change.

4. The test result will indicate the mobile-friendly status of the page. Moreover, it’s essential to understand what each status means, as described below.

Mobile-Friendly Status Descriptions

The Mobile-Friendly Test provides the following status descriptions:

The page isn’t usable on mobile

This status implies that the page encounters one or more issues that prevent it from functioning optimally on mobile devices.

The severity and number of these issues determine whether a page is labeled mobile-friendly.

Note that minor issues, typically one or two, may still be present without affecting the overall mobile-friendliness of a page.

URL is not available to Google

If Google cannot crawl and index the URL due to blocking measures, the page’s mobile-friendliness cannot be tested until it becomes accessible to Google’s crawlers.

Page is usable on mobile

This status indicates that the page should work well on mobile devices.

So, keep in mind that pages marked as mobile-friendly might still have minor issues. And, that may not be reflected in the report. Nonetheless, the page is considered mobile-friendly.

No data available

If Google encounters difficulties retrieving the page or assessing its mobile-friendliness, this message will be displayed. In such cases, waiting a short period and retesting is recommended.

Importance of Mobile Usability in the Google Index

While the Mobile-Friendly Websites Test tool evaluates the version of the URL you provide, it’s crucial to understand its limitations.

When using the tool to test a non-canonical page, the mobile-friendly status of the page in the Google index is not represented accurately.

So, during indexing, Google tests the mobile-friendliness of the canonical URL among a set of duplicate pages.

If the canonical version exhibits mobile-friendly issues, Google considers the page as having mobile-friendly issues, even if the duplicate versions are free from such problems.

To verify whether you’re testing the canonical URL, follow these steps:

1. Use the URL Inspection tool to inspect the indexed version of the URL, rather than the live test.

Check the value displayed in Coverage > Indexing > Google-selected canonical.

If the value reads “Inspected URL,” it means the tested URL is canonical.

If another URL appears, it represents the URL shown in search results.

2. To obtain site-wide mobile-friendly statistics, utilize the Mobile Usability report.

Interpreting Test Results

The results generated by the Mobile-Friendly Test adhere to the testing criteria used by Google Search.

While other tools or tests may present additional mobile-usability issues, the Mobile-Friendly Test focuses on reporting the issues that align with Google’s testing criteria.

Therefore, it’s vital to ensure that you’re testing the correct URL to obtain accurate results.

If the test results indicate that the page isn’t usable on mobile, it signifies that the page falls short of the quality standards set by Google.

The severity and number of errors determine this status.

To rectify this, address all issues except for text that may be too small to read initially.

Once other issues are resolved, focus on fixing the text size problem and retest to ensure mobile usability.

When addressing these issues, visualizing how Google sees your page can be beneficial.

By clicking “View tested page,” you can access a screenshot of the page as seen by Google during testing.

This screenshot illustrates the size and resolution used by Google to test mobile usability.

For a comprehensive view, you can simulate a mobile testing environment using Chrome or open the page on a mobile device with a similar screen size.

Take Action and Optimize Your Mobile Site

A mobile-friendly website is no longer an option but a prerequisite for success in the digital landscape.

With mobile traffic steadily increasing, ensuring that your website is accessible, visually appealing, and user-friendly on mobile devices is paramount.

Google’s Mobile-Friendly Websites Test provides a convenient way to evaluate your website’s mobile usability and identify areas for improvement.

Moreover, you can enhance the mobile experience for your audience and improve your search engine rankings by addressing the mobile usability issues flagged by the test.