Mobile SEO
Optimising a website for mobile devices. Critical after Mobile‑First Indexing.
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What is Mobile SEOStatisticsMobile SEO componentsHow to check Mobile SEOCommon problemsMobile-First approachIn brief
Mobile SEO is a set of technical and content measures aimed at making a site user‑friendly, fast, and relevant for mobile device users. It includes responsive design, loading speed, tap‑friendliness, readable text without zooming, and proper viewport settings.
What is Mobile SEO
Mobile SEO is a dedicated optimisation area that became mandatory after Google switched to Mobile‑First Indexing (since 2019 for all new sites). It focuses on mobile users, who make up the majority of traffic.
Statistics
- Traffic — 60%+ of search traffic comes from mobile devices
- Indexing — Google uses the mobile version for ranking
- Conversion — mobile conversion is usually lower than desktop, but optimisation can fix that
Mobile SEO components
- Responsive design
- Mobile page speed
- Mobile usability
- Touch‑friendly — tap targets at least 48x48px
- Viewport meta tag
- Legible font size (16px+)
How to check Mobile SEO
- Google Mobile‑Friendly Test
- PageSpeed Insights — mobile performance
- GSC Mobile Usability — error reports
- Chrome DevTools — device emulation
Common problems
- Non‑responsive design — fixed width that doesn’t scale
- Slow loading — heavy images, unoptimised JS
- Small text — less than 16px
- Small buttons — less than 48x48px
- Content outside viewport — horizontal scrolling
- Intrusive popups — interstitials covering content
Mobile-First approach
- Design for mobile first
- Then adapt for desktop (mobile‑first CSS)
- Test on real devices
- Optimise performance
Mobile SEO goes beyond technical settings. Mobile users tend to make more 'near me' queries, expect fast responses, and simple navigation.
FAQ
Common questions
Additional factors matter: speed on slow networks, button size, readability without zoom, no horizontal scroll. Local signals are also more important for mobile.
Technically yes, but it’s harder to maintain. Google recommends responsive design. If you use m.domain, add rel=canonical to the main version and configure user‑agent redirects.
AMP is no longer required for Top Stories. The technology alone doesn’t provide a boost, but fast pages do. Use AMP only if it truly improves user experience.
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