Mobile SEO Content Strategy for 2017
Are you creating your website content without considering SEO for mobile? With the start of 2017 upon us, you really should implement a mobile SEO content strategy. I will just touch on a few simple tips that you can easily do to get started with this.
WHY YOU NEED TO BE MOBILE FRIENDLY
Though there are many more tips available online that can really give you guidance, I will give you some basic tips that I do to help ensure that my content is mobile friendly. Why is this important?
If you are new to website content development, mainly getting your start in 2016, you probably do not know that Google required all websites to be mobile friendly on April 21, 2015 or face an SEO penalty.
The reason for this stems from the fact that as of January 2015 people accessing the internet on a mobile device surpassed those who used a desktop/laptop computer. Fortunately the majority of WordPress themes are mobile responsive.
With each passing year since 2015 mobile SEO becomes vitally important. With the majority of people searching the internet from their smartphones and tablets it is a must that your content and website navigation work well on these devices.
SOME BASIC TIPS
This is the strategy I do when I consider mobile SEO in the creation of my website content. First and foremost I write my content with a lot of white space. This is a UX (User Experience) technique that should be done regardless.
Though I still have to go back to many of my older pages and posts on my website to optimize them for more white space, my current content reflects this. If you look at a post I did on my website at the link below, you will see the following.
http://legitimatejobfromhome.com/how-to-make-extra...
I make sure that all of my paragraphs are only 3 lines of content in length. Basically no more than 3 sentences. With the exception of the first couple of paragraphs that have a picture to the right which squishes the content, all others appear as 3 lines of text.
Another thing I do with my content is to use H3 heading tags every 3 to 5 paragraphs. Because people on mobile devices skim through your content more so than people using a computer, heading tags will help to grab their attention.
I also use images and I very rarely place an image at the very top of my content. When I do place an image at the top it is always at the top and to the right. It is more important to have your beginning content with your keyword to be seen first.
Then when the content warrants it I will use bullet points or numbered lists. These are sometimes great for including links. When you place links in your content make sure that they are not too close to each other because it will be harder to tap on a small screen.
And last but not least, I always look at my website content on my iPhone and iPad to make sure it looks and navigates well.This is the most important strategy that you should do because you need to look at your website on a mobile device.
RECAP
Again there are many more tips available online to help you with your mobile SEO content strategy. But these 6 basic tips are what you can easily start doing now.
- White space using short paragraphs
- Using H3 heading tags
- Not using an image directly above beginning of content
- Use bullet points or numbered lists when warranted
- Make sure internal and external links are not too close to each other
- View your website content on a mobile device
Google in 2017 is going to put more emphasis on rankings when a website is mobile friendly more so than any previous year. With the majority of people in the world searching the internet on a mobile device, they know mobile SEO is vital.
Though it is best to create your website on a computer and not on a mobile device, always keep in mind that it needs to look and work well on mobile. If you have any questions or comments, please leave them below.
Recent Comments
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Same here. Although at some point I heard to use H2 tags sparingly. Not sure why. After my intro paragraph I add a title with an H2 tag that also contains my keyword. I only do this once.
Well, I think in terms of subdivisions. So, the blog post title is H1, then I use H2 tags for the sub topics, then H3 tags for the subsub topics within the sub topics, then H4 tags within those, and so on. For example, in a product review I might have a H2 tag which is “Who created this product?” Then the H3 tags would be the names of the product creators. Then a H4 tag might be “What other products has this person created?”
H2 tags are fine. I use H3 more so than H2 because with my theme the H2 is too big for my liking. It really comes down to what it will look like for your particular theme because each theme is different in how big or small a heading tag will look. Plus the SEO benefit between an H2 and an H3 are the same.
I also do mine almost exactly the way you do yours! And that assured me that what I'm doing with my main site is almost close to you deem is okay as far as mobile SEO is concern. Thank you very much for this post. Good pointers.
My website works well on mobile and with mobile SEO. It looks just the same as a desktop computer on tablets like the iPad, just a bit smaller. And for phones the formatting though different, is still acceptable.
That information is so vital. On the side of images, do you assign a featured image to your posts? I think this brings the image in the fore front of the heading. Is this good for mobile SEO?
For posts yes. I always assign a featured image because even though mobile is used mores than desktop, features images for posts on a desktop and for tablets are essential if your home page is a blog roll.
One more that I'd add, not for SEO, but readability - don't justify text. Left align it.
I used to do that & I think it looks good on a PC but on a mobile screen it's pretty awful due to the much narrower width. Lots of huge gaps everywhere.
Yes, good point That is also an important tip for those who do not already left align all of their content.
This is something one should practice regardless of mobile because the left margin should always be straight and even. This is another reason why it is not recommended to place images to the left of your content.
You beat me to it Ian. Let's tell the world "don't justify text!" I've been saying it for ages Why You Should NOT Justify Your Text
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Very good advice. Thanks for posting.
You are welcome. I am happy you enjoyed my post.