When you post an article to your blog or email a newsletter to customers, how does it look on mobile devices? It’s a question every marketer should know the answer to. Why? Mobile use is skyrocketing. It’s not just smartphone-obsessed teens with finger-flying text messages anymore. Nope. Mobile use has surpassed desktop use.
In the last four years smartphone usage is up 394 percent and tablet usage is up 1,721 percent, according to comScore. That means mobile-friendly content shouldn’t just be on your to-do list, it should be your top priority.
To help, here are five tips to make your content mobile-friendly:
1. Use responsive design
How does your content look on mobile devices? That’s the first question you have to answer. Use Google’s Mobile Friendly Tool or MobiReady to find out. Just put your website address into the search bar and both sites will analyze it and tell you how mobile-friendly your site is.
If you don’t like what you see, you may need to make changes to your sites. Consider switching to a responsive website design. Using this design, your sites adjust so each one looks great on every device.
“You don’t want people to scroll left and right to read your copy,” says Ali Swerdlow, vice president of industry relations at LiveIntent. “A responsive design makes websites render properly whether they are accessed on an smartphone or a tablet.”
If you have a website designer, talk with him or her about responsive design possibilities. If you’re using a do-it-yourself website builder, there could be a plug-in to upgrade your current site, or you could switch to a responsive design template.
2. Select your font wisely
You’re probably familiar with common fonts like Times New Roman and Arial, but your options aren’t limited to those listed in Microsoft Word. Google Fonts has a ton of free options that are great for content, but just because you have endless choices doesn’t mean they’re all mobile-friendly. You want a font that’s captivating, yet easy to read on a small screen. Here are the top five font choices from Google Fonts that look sharp on mobile devices:
• Open Sans
• Lato
• Old Standard TT
• Pt Serif
• Ubuntu
3. Size your headings and subheadings correctly
If your readers have to squint to read your content, there’s a problem. Font size is important. Your main heading should be the largest. Consider using a 15-point size for headings, and slightly smaller size, 14-point, for subheadings. The rest of your content can be in 14-point too. Never use anything smaller than 12-point, it’s just too small to read.
4. Write small paragraphs
Readers wants “digestible” content, which means they don’t want to be overwhelmed by long sentences and seemingly endless paragraphs.
“Don’t craft your online content like you’re writing a published book,” says Chris Piper, director of marketing communications at DriveTime.
“No one wants to stare at huge walls of text. It’ll seem strange at first, but your readers will read more if you give their eyes a rest and write paragraphs that are about two sentences long.”
Break up the content even more by using subheadings throughout your content.
5. Create an appealing, size-appropriate call to action
Every piece of content, whether it’s a blog post, newsletter or video should have a call to action. What makes a call to action standout on mobile devices? You want to create a call to action button that’s visually appealing and a finger-friendly size.
Use a button creator like Button Optimizer to create a button. Use a color that stands out. For example, use a color from your company logo to set the button apart from the rest of the black text.
Now let’s talk size. When the tip of an index finger touches a screen, it covers 45-57 pixels across, according to a MIT study. That’s a good size for a call to action button.
Is your content mobile-friendly? What have you done to ensure your content looks great for mobile customers? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.
