Some weeks ago, Google announced new criteria for designing mobile websites. There were many points that were of significance and importance. One of them was that responsive design is one of the best options for websites, particularly from a search engine optimization perspective. Before I go on to give you some SEO tips for Responsive Websites, let’s take a closer look at what responsive design is all about.
Responsive web design is basically approaching web design in such a manner that the website you create adapts automatically to whatever screen it is viewed on. Using responsive web design allows for a greater optimal viewing for the user. The user has less panning, scrolling and resizing to do. Using responsive design for your website means doing away with separate versions of your site as well as better readability on your site.
Keep these SEO tips for responsive websites in mind when you are designing your website:
- Include all content: It is important that your responsive website contains all necessary content from your desktop. This is in connection with the bounce rate. The bounce rate is essential for your rankings. If users do not find the information they are looking for, they will visit another site and your site will be ranked low then. Remember that responsive design can help you to improve the bounce rate. This is because the content on it is both easy to navigate and view. Therefore ensure that all relevant content is included.
- Slim your website down: It is necessary to do this as a desktop webpage will have many apps which all have their own codes. While it is possible to view this easily on a desktop, viewing the same site on a mobile phone will take much longer. This can lead to once again, higher bounce rates and a loss to your business – especially if the user is impatient and cannot wait for the site to download. It is all the more important to take steps that will help mobile users access your website fast.
- Style consolidation: Keep in mind that visual differences will be obvious when you compare a website on a desktop and the same website on a mobile phone. However these differences can be handled effectively with style sheets. That being said, you will also need to consolidate the styles. You may not realize it but your website may be inundated with information that is redundant as well as with very complicated graphic documents. Work on consolidating the styles and you will be left with a far better responsive website.
- Resize images correctly: Downloading a photo image file will be as heavy for mobile users as it is for desktop users. You will need to use the style sheets to shrink the photograph to the right size. However, you will also need to ensure that the style sheet you use chooses a different image for the responsive website (for mobile users).The file image you choose should be pre compressed (in kilobytes) and pre shrunk (in size). Your guideline for this should be 5kb for buttons and icons and 50kb for photographs.
- Choose the right library: Do not download too many libraries if you only need one or two functions on the website. Choose a library that will help you to develop functionality instead. A good example of this is the JQuery library from Javascript. Another option you have is to copy the one or two functions that you need into a JS file. This will help you to prevent the long download.
Keep the above SEO tips for responsive websites in mind and you are sure to gain rich rewards on all fronts.
About the Author
Tanya Hansen, a freelance writer for Homesecurityreviewsite.com – offers full home security to help protect your family, assets from burglary and other crimes. Click Here.