The recent webmaster video from Google shares how Content Management Systems can help their users to develop more mobile friendly sites. Eric Kwan from the Webmaster relations team shared this amazing presentation.
Check out the video:
For mobile statistics, Kwan recommended ThinkWithGoogle.com.
How to Make Mobile Friendly Sites
There’s a lot of work which goes into working with websites. Responsive web design really works well. This is why Google prefers it, Eric said.
How Google Sees Mobile Friendly Sites
When you go to sites, you check if the font is readable, primary content is not in flash and it is easy to click the links to provide perfect experiences for smartphone users. This is exactly how Google also sees and checks how mobile friendly the website is.
Users should not get caught in pitfalls:
Default folders should be clear to users so they can see where to place their files such as those for Javascript.Misdirected content is another block for users. Faulty redirects are another problem. If the site takes users to the mobile homepage instead of a specific URL, this can also be a major problem.
Responsive web design solves all these problems. Users should not fall into these pitfalls while configuring sites. The final pitfall is playability issues. If some type of incompatible software is there, summaries and transcripts should be added below flash content so users know it is there.
Google SEO Checklist 2014
- Have a mobile friendly site
- Allow crawling of all CSS, JS and other resources
- Use modern new technologies such as HTML5
- Check redirects
- Don’t serve errors for smartphone users
- Treat Google bot for smartphones like other smartphones
How You Can Help Users Go Mobile
Users should create robust documentation that has an intuitive interface and is easy to use. Users should also be provided quick start guides to get mobile friendly. Eric also suggested that mobile friendly themes should be created and these should be fast default versions. He also suggested CMSs should aim towards helping users find fast mobile templates that work for them.
How Google Can Help Users Go Mobile
Test a site for mobile friendliness using own smartphone or devices from others so they can get the feel of how users are using the page. Chrome emulation is another important source of help. Chrome developer console has a mobile button so you can see how the page appears on numerous mobile devices.
Webmaster tools can help you to view how Google renders sites. PageSpeed Insights tool is also useful as it reveals how one can improve the mobile site speed.
Additional Google resources Eric mentioned include Webmaster Product Forums and Webmaster Central Blog.