Being mobile-friendly isn’t just about having a fast-loading, responsive, or easy-to-navigate website. Well, it is. But that’s only a small part. Uploaded content is a huge part of it, too. Providing an all-round mobile-friendly website is all about user experience, really.
To help you out, we’re going to give you some tips for creating content that’s mobile friendly.
Create A Hooking Introduction
Compared to desktop screens, mobile phones are much smaller. Even the plus sized ones. So there’s much less space available for you to convey your message without it seeming clunky or bulky.
They need to continue scrolling for more information and if the first two or so paragraphs aren’t that interesting… Well. It’s not good news. That’s why the introduction is more important than people make it out to be. It’s the part that not just mobile users but desktop users, too, skim over to see if it’s useful to them.
By creating a hooking introduction, you’re also creating stronger chances of visitors staying on your website. Put all the relevant information first if you need to.
Unfortunately, I think the introduction I’ve created for this post is weak compared to some of my others. Not my best work. You have to do the opposite of me.
Short Paragraphs
Everybody loves a short paragraph. Lengthy paragraphs on a desktop can be torture enough, let’s not carry that over to mobile users. This is a good time to introduce you to Jon Ziomek’s 1-2-3-4-5 approach. Heard of it?
Basically, 1-2-3-4-5 suggests that paragraphs contain 1 idea, discussed in 2-3 sentences over 4-5 lines. Simple. If you’re explaining a point and your paragraph exceeds 5 lines, it’s starting to become unattractive to readers.
More so if your readers are mobile users. 5 is the standard, but any length under 5 lines is accepted just as much. Maybe even more.
Who doesn’t love a one liner?
Language
Simple, easy to understand language is the safest and best practice to use when creating content. It keeps your content straightforward and means that readers follow it much easier. Language written for everyone.
But it’s not just the actual language used – it’s how the words you use can shorten sentence length. Any sentence that’s 20 words or under? Absolute killer. That’s slang lingo for great, amazing, brilliant. Best you can do. Hopefully, this post is full of them.
One way you can shorten sentences through language is by eliminating those unnecessary words. Instead of ‘in order to’, you just use ‘to’. Easy as that. But on top of elimination, you need to avoid repetition. Unless you’re using it to make a point, but that’s usually if you’re trying to be persuasive or get a serious point across.
Add Media
Short paragraphs? Beautiful. Now think about adding some media to break up the big block of text and it’s even better. Adding images that support what your text is about adds a visual component to your content and improves viewership.
In fact, visuals are processed up to 600 times faster than text so your readers will understand pictures way before they process and understand text.
Short Titles
This is your readers’ very first introduction to your page, most times before they’ve even decided to click. It’s best for page titles to be short and straight-to-the-point, not just for interest but for mobile purpose. Short page titles appear on only one line in search results on mobile devices.
Additionally, the title should really feature the focus keyword at the beginning to improve your search ranking.
CTA Placements
Capturing the attention of mobile users is challenging and you have limited space to work with. You need the write introductions, the right titles, images, videos, everything. And that includes your CTAs (Call To Action).
If you can’t keep them interested, you lose a mobile user before they even get to the bottom of the page. Is this bad? Well, it’s not great. This is the usual placement for a CTA which means it’s now been rendered useless.
For mobile users specifically, then, it’s best to place your CTA front and centre. Right at the top where nobody can miss it. Maybe next to a relevant image or quick statistic that captures their attention. A little kick that convinces them to follow through and click.
Previews
Preview, preview, preview! – Oh look, repetition for an important point!
We can’t stress this point enough. What better way to see what your visitors will see then to use the preview function?! It’s one of the best practices to get into a habit of doing, and everybody does it. Students, professors, scholars, everyone.
By previewing the content we’re about to publish, you can check so many different things:
- See exactly how your paragraphs appear. For many plug-ins, you can view this for both desktop and mobile users.
- Add in headings or sub-headings wherever necessary or where you need to break up text.
- Check where there’s plenty of empty space for an image, video, or other kind of graphic. Maybe even a graph or chart if it’s statistics related.
If you don’t like how some sentences read, just go into edit mode and change it. Then you’ll be satisfied when it finally goes live on your site.
Conclusion
Adding a conclusion title always feel so strange to me when doing blogs. Takes me back to the time when I was being swallowed by assignment deadlines. But then if I don’t do a conclusion, I think the finishing paragraph blends into the previous one that isn’t a conclusion at all.
Hmm. Anyways…
Whether the content you’re creating is new and fresh or old content that’s being modified, these tips are useful. The most important take away is that any content you put out should be high-quality. It’s this content that gets the best ranking.
Contact Us!
I mentioned that a CTA at the bottom isn’t always the best course of action but here we are, at the bottom of the page…
If you’re interested in getting to know more about our digital marketing services, just ask. We don’t bite! Or do we?
Get in touch with us via telephone or email – our inbox is info@growtraffic.co.uk and you can give us a buzz on 0161 706 0012.
