How to Get Ahead in Marketing with Mobile-first Content Strategy

Smartphones dominate the time that we live in. It is evident from the fact that mobile users consume content like never before. In 2018, an Internet Trend Study exhibited that the average time a consumer spends on digital media is nearly 3.3 hours every day. In the same year, more than 50 percent of all website traffic all over the world was generated from mobile devices, which in 2016 was only 43 percent. These trends show that there has been a gradual shift towards mobile engagement, and it is indeed a wakeup call for the content marketers when it comes to being competitive about content marketing services. This writing aims to highlight the importance of a mobile-friendly content strategy that will help you to create a better user experience. 

Why do you need a mobile-friendly content strategy?

It was in April 2015 that Google published its mobile-oriented algorithmic update to render better rankings to mobile-friendly pages. At the same time, they intended to provide improved results to mobile users. Again, in 2016 another update intended to provide improved rankings to mobile-friendly sites. In March 2018, Google published its Mobile-First Index. It implied that Google would start using the mobile version of a page’s content for indexing and ranking such that search results become more relevant for mobile users. Four months later, in July 2018, Google released its Mobile Speed Update, thereby making page speed an important factor for ranking in mobile results. 

All of these updates clearly show that contents that are optimized with mobile SEO strategies get a bigger boost in rankings of search engines. However, one cannot undermine the significance of publishing content that mobile readers prefer. Honestly, smartphones have become the device of choice for entertainment, information, shopping, and social interactions.

Mobile-friendly content strategies

1. Making your site responsive

A website is considered responsive if its elements can adjust according to the device that a person uses, thereby rendering an improved viewing experience. In a WordPress site, it can be as simple as the installation of a desirable theme. 

2. Optimization of site speed

More than 50 percent of the mobile website visits are terminated if a website takes more than three seconds to load. As per Google, for every one-second delay, the conversion rate of a side is reduced by 12 percent. 

Nowadays, page speed is one of the factors determining the ranking of mobile searches. Hence, it is important to make sure that your pages are optimized for speed. For this purpose, you can use Google’s Mobile Speed Test for uncovering any issues with page speed.    

3. Implementing the Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP)

The AMP project intends to improve user experience by ensuring that websites load faster. If you optimize for AMP, your rankings will get better. AMP is an open-source project in partnership with Google. For detailed information, you can look at Google’s guideline and then test if your AMP pages are valid. If you use WordPress, make sure to install the WordPress plugin.

4. Producing a sitemap

A sitemap will ensure that the crawler of Google covers your site properly. WordPress plugin and Yoast SEO will also do the job for you. You can also consider the XML sitemap to create one free. 

5. Optimize Descriptions and Titles

Meta descriptions and titles appear in Google’s SERP, and they are vital for improving click-through rates. However, mobile users may not be able to visualize the description due to the smaller screen size. Hence, it is important to insert keywords at the start of titles and descriptions. 

6. Making use of Rich Markup 

If you take a close look at Google’s SERP, you will rich snippets appearing in the form of recipe information, product ratings, and company information. They may not directly affect your search rankings, although they may determine website bounce rate and click-through rates. 

When it comes to pulling information from mark-ups, Google uses structured data mark-up or rich mark-up.

7. Publishing relevant and engaging content 

Studies have shown that mobile users render the most attention in the left top corner or top half of the screen. In comparison to desktop users’ mobile user scrolls more. Hence, it becomes important that you put the most engaging and compelling content at the start above the fold.  

8. Write shorter and more captivating headlines

While creating a headline for your content, take care to make it more intriguing and explain how users will benefit from further reading. A headline that short yet snappy, scan-able, and engaging will draw the attention of users. It would help if you also took care of the font size, as they may get lost below the fold. 

The Bottom line

As Google gives more priority to mobile content and mobile viewing grows, you cannot give a fig to optimizing content for the mobile audience as it determines your visibility and credibility as well.