A multitude of factors influence search engine rankings for websites, but one of the most important to consider is mobile-friendliness. By developing a website that’s compatible with all audiences, including mobile users, you’ll not only create the ideal user experience, but you’ll also have the chance to improve your SEO.

There are multiple reasons why you must incorporate a mobile-responsive design to get the most from your SEO efforts.

What Is a Responsive Design?

A mobile-responsive design for a website uses the same code while making adjustments based on screen size. In the process, the website will be able to adjust to fit mobile users’ screens, whether accessing the website through a smartphone or a tablet. At the same time, the user experience would be the same across all devices, enabling users to clearly view and access every element. Without a mobile-responsive design, users would have to make manual adjustments to view the website, which would typically entail zooming in and out.

If you want to make sure all users can enjoy the same experience when visiting your website, you must make it mobile-responsive.

Why You Need Mobile-Responsive Websites for Good SEO

Since 2013, Google has made mobile responsiveness a necessity for websites if they want to get ahead of competitors. Starting that year, Google officially began penalizing websites that offer poor mobile experiences, recommending that developers fix smartphone-only errors and faulty redirects.

In addition to avoiding Google penalties, there are a few other ways having a mobile-responsive web design can boost your search engine rankings. These include:

An Improved User Experience

If your website is mobile-friendly, it will provide users with a better overall experience. To facilitate this, all text on your website should be legible, and any videos or images appearing on the screen should fill the screen. Additionally, you should ensure all buttons are large and visible.

The menu should also adapt for mobile devices, enabling users to select a convenient drop-down menu to navigate the website. In turn, mobile users will be able to get to and view any page on your website with ease.

If your website offers users a great user experience across all devices, this will improve your website’s usability score, which Google and other search engines reward.

Elimination of Duplicate Content

In some cases, developers may create two different websites: one for desktop users and one for mobile users. However, having two sites with exactly the same content can cause confusion for search engines. If your desktop website already ranks well for certain terms, your mobile version will have a more difficult time achieving the same rankings, making it less likely that mobile users will find your website in search engines.

This is why it’s best to avoid duplicate content altogether by making your desktop website mobile responsive. If you only have one website that users can access on multiple devices, this will ensure your content isn’t cannibalizing itself.

Lower Bounce Rate

The bounce rate of your website gives insight into the number of users who leave your website immediately upon visiting it in the hopes of finding a better resource. A high bounce rate reveals that you need to change something on your web pages or in your strategy. For example, people may leave your website because the information isn’t relevant or hopeful. Users are also likely to leave because of a poor user experience, which is probably the case if your website isn’t designed for mobile users.

A high bounce rate will make your website look bad in the eyes of Google and other search engines, which could subsequently hurt your rankings. Even if your content is well-optimized and helpful, users may have a hard time navigating it and leave shortly after landing on your web pages. You can easily prevent this by making sure your website is optimized for mobile users, which will help keep them on your website and reduce your bounce rate.

Make Your Brand Look Good

Another way mobile responsiveness can benefit your website’s rankings is by improving your company’s reputation. If people visit your website on mobile devices only to find that the experience is unpleasant or even intolerable, this will reflect on your brand. People will be less inclined to engage with your business online or elsewhere, leading them to turn to competitors that offer a better experience. As a result, your website may gradually fall in search engine rankings as people engage with competitors, causing them to rank higher.

Encourage More Sharing on Social Media

By allowing access to your website for mobile users, you’ll also be able to connect with more social media users. People primarily access social media on mobile devices, making it necessary to reach these users if you want to connect with audiences via Facebook and other platforms. With increased social media shareability, your brand will benefit from an increased audience and optimized social media marketing campaigns. This, in turn, will increase engagement with your brand through your website and other channels, which will help further boost your reputation on search engines.

Get Great Results from Your Website With Mobile-Friendly Design

If you don’t already have a mobile-responsive website, it’s important to make sure it is as soon as you can. While many people may still access your website on laptops and desktop computers, you’re excluding a huge portion of your audience by neglecting to optimize for mobile. Take the time to develop a mobile-friendly design that connects with all users across all screen sizes, offering the same enjoyable experience. In the process, you’ll increase your brand’s reputability, boost user engagement, and ultimately come out on top in search engines.

To help you develop a mobile-friendly website and cover other aspects of your web design, it’s important to work with professionals who have plenty of experience in this area. With the help of the right marketing agency, you can benefit from optimized web design along with many other aspects of marketing, including SEO, PPC, and social marketing. If you would like to learn more about how Vigor Seorchers can help with web design and more, reach out to us today.