In most industries, more than half of all traffic comes from mobile devices. Yet a website is often built and approved on a large screen. On a laptop, everything looks tidy. On a phone, the situation is often very different.
That costs you enquiries and revenue. A visitor who cannot find what they are looking for will not email or call. They close the page and click on the next search result. In this article you will learn how to see what your mobile visitors see and where you can improve.
Why a large screen gives you the wrong picture
At your desk you sit in front of a large screen, with a fast internet connection and a mouse. Your visitor is on the train, on the sofa or walking down the high street. They have one hand free and sometimes an unreliable network.
The difference goes beyond screen size. A menu that works perfectly well on desktop can turn into a long list on a phone. A beautiful background photo can slow loading considerably. A form with ten fields quickly feels like hard work on a small screen.
Google also looks mainly at the mobile version of your site. This is called mobile first indexing: Google assesses and ranks your pages based on what a phone displays. A weak mobile site is therefore also a weak spot for your visibility in search.
Pick up your own phone
The best test costs nothing. Pick up your own phone and do what a customer would do. A tool that imitates a phone on your computer is useful for a first check, but it does not replace a real device. You only feel what is annoying on a real phone.
Here is how to go about it:
- Switch off wifi and open your site on 4G. This lets you experience the speed as many visitors do.
- Search for your business on Google, as a new customer would.
- Try to buy something, request a quote or sign up for the newsletter.
- Turn your phone on its side and check whether the page still looks right.
- Ask a colleague or family member to do the same, preferably with a different phone.
Pay attention to anything that irritates you. Think of small buttons, pop-ups that block the screen and text you have to zoom in on to read. Write it down straight away. After a few minutes you will often have a list of points to improve.
Also test on more than one device. An older phone with a smaller screen often reveals problems that you do not see on a new device.
Make your site thumb-friendly
Most people use their phone with one thumb. That determines what works well. Your thumb is wider than a mouse pointer and cannot reach everywhere. The top corners of the screen are hard to reach.
Follow these rules of thumb:
- Large buttons: make buttons and links at least around 44 pixels high, so you can tap them without mistakes.
- Space between them: do not place tappable elements close together. Otherwise you keep tapping the wrong one.
- Main action within reach: place the key button under the thumb, not at the top in a corner.
- Tap-to-call phone number: make sure a number dials straight away when someone taps it.
- Readable text: use a font size you can read without zooming, with plenty of white space.
- Short menus: limit the number of choices, so visitors do not have to scroll endlessly.
Many sites place the most important button at the top in the header. On a phone, a button that scrolls along at the bottom of the screen can work better. Test what suits your visitors.
Speed on mobile
You notice speed far more on mobile than on desktop. The connection is often slower and a phone has less processing power. A page that loads in one second at the office can take considerably longer when you are out and about.
Two things most often slow down a site: large images and heavy scripts. A script is a piece of code that makes the site do something extra, such as a chat window, a tracker or an animation. Every script has to be downloaded and executed.
What you can do about it:
- Reduce the size of images before you upload them and choose a modern file format.
- Only load images when they come into view. This is called lazy loading.
- Remove scripts that add nothing. For each script, ask yourself whether anyone still uses it.
- Do not use video that starts automatically on mobile.
Google measures user experience with the Core Web Vitals. These are a few measurements covering loading speed, responsiveness and whether the page stays stable while loading. You can see them in Google Search Console and in the PageSpeed Insights tool, among other places. Always look at the mobile score there, not just the desktop score.
Forms and checkout on mobile
On a phone, visitors most often drop out at forms. Typing on a small screen takes effort. Every extra field increases the chance that someone gives up.
So only ask for what you really need. For an initial enquiry, a name, an email address and a message are often enough. Also make sure the right keyboard appears. A phone number calls for a numeric keypad, an email address for a keyboard with an @ symbol.
A common scenario: an online shop makes visitors create an account before they can check out. On desktop, that is still manageable. On a phone, the customer has to think up a password, fill in a long address form and close a pop-up. The basket stays full, but the order never comes through. Anyone who tests an order on 4G will see this immediately. The solution is often simple: guest checkout, fewer fields and automatic completion of address details.
Look at your pop-ups too. A window that fills the whole screen and has a tiny cross is an obstacle on mobile. Google takes a critical view of pop-ups that cover the content immediately, so it can also affect your visibility in search.
Measure where visitors drop out
Your own test gives a first impression. Figures show how big the problem really is. In your analytics tool, look at the data by device. Compare mobile with desktop on, among other things:
- the number of visitors who leave straight away;
- the time visitors spend on a page;
- the number of enquiries or purchases per visit.
If the difference is large, that is where your opportunity lies. Many visitors but few results on mobile often points to a problem with the experience.
A heatmap then shows you where people tap and how far they scroll. Session recordings show how a real visitor moves through the site. You might see, for example, someone tapping three times on a button that does not respond. Bear privacy in mind here: inform visitors and ask for consent where required.
Do not change everything at once. First improve the spot where most visitors drop out, measure the effect and then move on to the next.
Frequently asked questions
Is a responsive website the same as a mobile-friendly website?
No. A responsive site adapts to the screen, but that says nothing about ease of use. Buttons can still be too small and pages can still be slow. Only testing on a real phone shows whether it works well.
How often should I test my site on mobile?
Test after every major change, such as a new design, a new plug-in or a new form. In addition, carry out a full check a few times a year. That way you also spot problems that have crept in gradually.
Should I improve speed or design first?
Start with whatever bothers visitors most. That is often a slow page or a form that does not work. These improvements are usually quick to make and have an immediate effect. Only after that should you work on the details of the design.
Book a free 30-minute introductory meeting
Would you like to know how your site performs on a phone? Adventio Marketing in Amersfoort will gladly take a look with you. In a free 30-minute introductory meeting, we will review your site on mobile together and discuss where the biggest opportunities lie. You will receive concrete points you can act on straight away, with no obligation. Get in touch and book a time that suits you.
