Now that Google has announced that it will shift its main search engine index on mobile searchers, it is time for digital marketers to focus on optimising the mobile version of their website. This is great news for those who have already stepped up the game and created their own mobile site beforehand. However, it does not mean that one has a mobile site, it will rank higher among other websites. Google will still apply almost the same rules before it changed its site crawlers and this means that users are still given the topmost priority.
So, as a digital marketer, you should always bear in mind the convenience of users whenever they are browsing your website. Make sure you created a web design that users can easily navigate. But before we go on to the technicalities on mobile site Optimization, check out this overview first about Google’s Mobile-First Index so that you will be able to better understand the importance of having a mobile version of your website.
What is Mobile-First Index?
The number of mobile searchers continue to rise due to the popularity of smartphones and tablets in the market. Plus, it is very convenient to use because users can search for an item anywhere and anytime, as long as there is an internet connection. Because of this, mobile search gradually increased throughout the years that its numbers beat the desktop search. The sudden shift paved way for Google’s mobile-first index to happen.
In mobile-first index, the mobile-friendliness of a website will be the basis for Google’s rankings. Google will “crawl” a website’s mobile version first, and if it happens that a website gets chosen to be included in the SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages), the content on the mobile site will be displayed instead of the ones posted in the desktop version. So, you should ensure that every relevant information is displayed on your mobile site.
Now that you have understood the importance of a mobile site, let us go now to the part on how are you going to make your mobile site user-friendly. One way to do is it include “hamburger menus” or accordions in your mobile site.
What are “Hamburger Menus”?
Web designers usually use hamburger menus to declutter the content displayed on the desktop version of a website. It is like a hidden sitemap that contains the list of the major pages of a website once you clicked on it. If you view a mobile site, it is the icon at the topmost corner of a website (placed either on the upper left or right) with three horizontal lines. It is called a “hamburger menu” because it appears to look like there’s a patty in between two buns.
How Will “Hamburger Menus” Help Boost SEO?
Including a hamburger menu in a mobile site is a huge advantage in SEO because it helps improve user experience and increases the traffic on a website. And with more traffic, the higher chances that the mobile site will achieve high ranking in major search engines like Google. You might be wondering how will it help increase a website’s traffic. Well, it is simple. A hamburger menu makes navigation simple and easy for users. Users are most likely to stay and explore a website because of the ease of navigation. Not only will this help increase traffic, but it also prevents high bounce rates.
How to Use a Hamburger Menu to Improve User Experience
1. Decongest your webpage
Mobile sites have a limited screen space compared with its desktop version. You can transfer some of the content from the main pages and transfer it inside the hamburger menu. However, this does not mean that you are going to put blocks of texts inside. Of course, you will still divide the information into categories. In this way, it would not be a hassle for the user to scroll way further down your page just to look for information.
2. Include only the major categories
If you already have a desktop version of your website and you want to create a mobile site, make sure that the hamburger menu in your mobile site only contains the major pages of your website. Avoid overwhelming your visitors with so many options. If you do, they will most likely click the back button and look for another website. It is hard to find the page when there are too many categories to choose from. Hamburger menus are supposed to simplify your website. You are not supposed to use it to make it more complicated for users.
3. Consolidate choices into one category
If you happen to have a large website with so many pages, do not include everything in the hamburger menu. What you can do is to combine similar products or services into one category. In this way, it would the menu would not look like a cluttered list of options.
Including a hamburger menu in your mobile site is one of the many content marketing strategies that can help boost your SEO. If you are new to SEO and you want to know more ways that can generate traffic and high rankings, you can always seek help from an expert like from an SEO company in Singapore. They provide SEO packages in Singapore that includes custom-made marketing strategies which can improve site usability and drive targeted traffic.
