Mobile devices have become an integral part of our daily lives—and they’re not going anywhere. We’ve all become accustomed to consuming content wherever we are and whenever we want to. This convenience has turned mobile devices into the most commonly used devices for searches—a few years ago, mobile accounted for nearly 60% of all Google searches, and the number has likely risen since then.
That being said, every aspect of marketing should be mobile-friendly, especially content. Here are a few ways you can up your mobile content game.
Be conscious of images
Images can add a lot of value to content, especially if you’re using a descriptive image like an infographic. But keep in mind that the size of these images can affect a mobile user’s experience. If the image isn’t sized properly for mobile, users could find a poorly formatted page that’s frustrating to use, making them bounce quickly off the page. If they can’t see the full image on their screen at once, it won’t add any value for the reader, defeating the purpose of the image in the first place.
A good way to do this is to use responsive images that will display differently based on the device. It will show as a large image on the desktop and a small image on a mobile device.
Make sure you test or preview how images will look in your content on both desktop and mobile devices before publishing your content. You don’t want mobile users to run from your site simply because of a poorly-sized image in the content.
Keep messaging simple and concise
Just because content is long doesn’t mean it’s more informative, especially when it comes to mobile devices. Mobile search is extremely popular now—users are searching questions on their mobile devices and want instant answers. Some of the content that readers find most valuable are the pieces that are simple and concise. Most mobile users are looking for a specific answer to a question, and they want it quickly. They don’t want to sift through a long piece of content to find what they’re looking for, so create content with their needs in mind.
Avoid creating a long piece of content and opt for breaking it down into multiple pieces that answer specific questions or offer specific solutions. Instead of having a 3,000-word guide with six main sections, break it up into six separate pages of content and interlink them for easy navigating and quick reading.
Make your content scannable
It’s common for mobile users to scroll down a page and do a quick scan of your content. Mobile users are usually looking for something specific, so if all they see are large groups of tiny text, they’ll likely feel overwhelmed. Nobody wants to read an entire page of words to find one piece of information.
You’ll need to make it scannable and easy for readers to find exactly what they’re looking for. Have lots of subheadings in the article to break up the text, and make sure each subheading has an appropriate font size to differentiate it from other paragraphs of text. The subheading for each section should provide a concise, accurate description about that section. This will make it easy for users to scroll through content and quickly pick out what they need.
To make it even easier, you might even have each subheading listed at the beginning of the article (preferably above the fold) with a jump link to the corresponding section. That way, users don’t need to scroll through the page. Instead, they can click on what appeals to them and be taken directly to that section of content.
Utilize CTAs
Your screen space is limited on mobile devices, so you need to place your CTAs strategically. While they’re important, you don’t want them to completely dominate the screen, so try to limit it to one CTA on the page. It should also be a CTA that’s relevant to the content on that page. This will likely yield higher conversions, so make sure your CTA and message are in-line with each other.
On mobile, it’s best not to use pop-ups as your CTA. As mentioned earlier, mobile users are looking for a quick answer or solution and might see a pop-up as something that’s getting in the way of their search. It’s especially frustrating for users when there’s a tiny, impossible-to-click-with-your-finger button to clear the screen of a pop-up, so it’s better to steer clear of them altogether. Try integrating your CTA as a button near the top or bottom of the article instead—your users will thank you.
Have the need for speed
If I haven’t mentioned it enough before, here it is again: mobile users are looking for a quick answer. They don’t want to wait for a page to load as they scroll—they want it to load quickly so they can scroll seamlessly through content. That means your website needs to be fast. Research has found that page load speed needs to be under four seconds, or else it could negatively affect your conversion rate.
A few ways you can make your site load faster is by compressing files, optimizing images, and minifying your code (including HTML, CSS, and JavaScript). There are now apps available to help with this and make it a fairly simple process. And although the process may be simple, the payoff can be exponentially larger—site speed is one of Google’s ranking factors, so your users will benefit from a faster loading time and you might even move up in organic search rankings.
Always keep mobile in mind
The amount of mobile users is growing rapidly and may soon heavily outweigh desktop users, so it’s important to keep them in mind. Follow the above suggestions to make your content more mobile-friendly and improve the overall user experience. Your users (and conversion rate) will thank you!
