ERICA: Hi, everyone.
I'm Erica from the Google AdWords team.
And this is AdWords in Under Five Minutes.
In this video, we will show you how
to design an effective mobile site that
will give your customers a rewarding experience--
no matter what device they're on.
We'll cover first, speed--
how to make your site load faster.
Second, mobile friendliness-- make it easy for the customer
to use your website.
Third, simplify-- simplify the navigation
and make it uncomplicated to get around.
And last but not least, conversions--
make it easy for potential customers
to take the action you want on your site.
Let's get started.
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When creating a mobile site, you'll
want to take into account the smaller screen
size of mobile devices as well as how
people use mobile devices when visiting websites on the go
versus on their desktop computers.
Make it easy for your customer to find what they're
looking for, so they don't get frustrated and leave your site.
OK, let's look at how to help your site load quickly
so users on the move can get right
to what they're looking for.
With Google's page speed insights,
you can check the speed score for your website
and receive customized recommendations
based on your website that can help your site load quicker.
To get recommendations for your website,
click the button here or in the YouTube description,
then come back here to learn more.
One way to keep your site up to speed
is to compress your site's image files.
Images are a great way to grab a potential customer's attention.
But if your image size is too large,
they can cause your site to be slow to load.
Once you've got a potential customer to your website,
you want to make it easy for them to use it.
One way is to create a flexible, not
fixed website, so it changes according
to the size of a user's device, making sure your website
will look the way it's supposed to across a variety
of mobile screen sizes.
This also means you'll only need to maintain
one version of your site.
Put the most important information
in features towards the top of the page
to keep visitors from having to scroll down
to find what they need and make sure
any scrolling you do have is vertically oriented.
Small or tightly packed links or buttons
are more difficult for users to accurately press
on a touchscreen.
To prevent users from being frustrated by accidentally
hitting the wrong button, tap targets
should be made sufficiently large and given
enough room between each other.
Avoid using large blocks of text on your mobile site.
If you have a lot to say, try using short bullet points
instead.
They're easier for visitors to scan and take
less time to load.
Now let's look at how you can simplify the navigation
on your site to help your mobile customers get
to where they need to be and as few steps as possible.
Think about your menu structure.
What information do your mobile customers need most?
Put that front and center.
Keep multilevel menus to a minimum
and avoid using rollovers as a way
to display information since they're not
ideal for mobile devices.
You also want to display clear back and home
buttons on every screen, so visitors never lose their way.
Here's a tip-- use your logo as a Home button.
Next, make it easy for someone visiting your site
to take the action you want like filling out a form,
finding your business, or making an online purchase.
Here's how you can do this.
Have a clear call to action.
Clearly encourage users to call, fill out a form,
or view your products or deals.
Keep forms short and simple.
Leave out any fields that aren't truly necessary.
Make it simple for your mobile customers
to enter information on your site,
use checkboxes, lists, and scroll menus wherever possible.
If phone calls are important to your business,
encourage people to call by using the click
to call feature.
This feature eliminates an extra step
by displaying applicable call button instead of your phone
number.
Feature your address or store locator
on your site's landing page, show visitors
where you are by including maps and directions
to your business.
Use GPS to give visitors, more personalized directions.
Include a feature on your site that
lets customers check the stock at their local store.
And lastly, make sure your website is
being indexed for web search.
Check out the general guidelines to help Google find,
index, and rank your site by clicking the button.
Great, now that you know how to make
your website mobile friendly, you'll
be able to make it easy for mobile users
to become loyal customers.
To learn more about creating an effective mobile website,
check out our 25 principles of mobile site design here.
If you have any questions about mobile website design,
you can post them for our experts in the comments section
below.
You can also ask a question on social media
or join the discussion in the AdWords community.
Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel
to catch all the latest AdWords videos.
Thanks for watching.
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