When you start a blog, one of your first actions should be to make sure that it is viewer-friendly, especially for readers on mobile devices.
The physical appearance of your blog provides visitors with a chance to create the first impression of both you and your brand.
That means you want it to be aesthetically pleasing, but you also want it to easy to navigate.
If you’re just starting your blog or you want to make sure yours is attracting a variety of viewers, read on to learn how to make your blog mobile friendly.
1. Pick a responsive theme
If you’re wondering how you can make your blog mobile friendly without taking up too much of your time and effort, you’re in luck.
Many of the free themes offered from WordPress are predesigned to be responsive.
Now, you may be wondering what this elusive ‘responsive’ term means. Surely a blog can’t react to something, it’s not alive.
Well, actually it can. A blog theme that has a responsive feature means that it can adapt to the way a viewer looks at your blog, depending on if they are using a computer or phone.
The best part… you just have to use a theme that is responsive when you design your site. Or if you already have one established, you can try out a new theme if your old own isn’t working for you.
2. Make your content short and sweet
Beyond the technological aspects of making your blog mobile friendly, come the fun parts. Design and formatting.
Since most phone and tablet screens are significantly smaller than a computer screen, you want to make sure your content is easy to read.
This could involve the size of your text and images or the length of your text.
One thing is for sure. You’ll want to chunk your information into sections that are easier to digest.
Break up longer paragraphs even if you think they look okay while you’re drafting them on your computer. Chances are, they’ll look a lot longer on a phone.
In our times of having endless information quickly available at our fingertips, your readers won’t want to come face-to-face with a threateningly large paragraph (even if it’s not actually that long).
It will likely stop them from reading or you will lose their interest because of long paragraphs that seem to drone on with no point.
3. Avoid using ads on mobile
While ads or pop-ups are great options to have on a website, you shouldn’t include them when tailoring to a mobile audience.
They can easily take up the whole screen of the phone and are often difficult to close. Because of their size, they also tend to block portions of the text.
This can become annoying and will likely cause visitors to leave without receiving the information they originally came for. And you can bet they won’t be back.
4. Make speed a priority
When people look up questions or information on their phones, they are looking for quick answers.
This means readers of your blog, especially on mobile devices, will not wait if it takes your site too long to load. They will leave your site and will probably not think about visiting it again.
We obviously don’t want this to happen.
One of the best ways to ensure your blog loads fast is to compress all of the images you upload onto your site.
This includes logos, supplemental images on blog posts, and any other area you add photos.
Most website builders like WordPress include the option to compress right as you’re uploading your images.
All you would need to do is click the compress button and the site does all the technical work for you.
A simple but useful move that only requires your finger to click.
5. Be sure to preview it on a mobile screen
Many people fall victim to forgetting the step of previewing their work.
Previewing and proofing are some of the most crucial actions you need to take before publishing, posting, uploading, or submitting anything.
Not only for catching mistakes like typos or incorrect grammar but also for examining the overall design and format of a post or site.
Before you move forward with anything, be sure to take time to look at what your blog and individual posts look like on a phone or tablet.
You might not even have to do this on the actual device itself.
WordPress now gives the opportunity to check a post in a mobile view while drafting by hitting the preview button and choosing the mobile option.
6. Perform routine checks
Once you ensure that your blog is responsive and accessible on mobile devices, you want to constantly check to make sure the design continues to be speedy and streamlined.
Regardless of what type of blog you run, it is important to make sure it stays up to date with technology and information.
This is the case both for the desktop version and the mobile version of your blog.
Ask For Help
We know what you’re thinking—you don’t have the time in your busy, successful schedule to consistently scope out what your blog looks like on a phone or tablet.
That’s understandable.
We don’t expect you to randomly scroll through while you’re waiting for food at a restaurant or sitting outside enjoying the fresh air because you’re so proud of how the site turned out and can’t stop looking at it.
If that does sound like you, great! You’ll already be ahead of the game by performing frequent checks to make sure everything is still operating smoothly.
However, if you don’t check your website often, don’t fret. You can ask friends or family to browse on their mobile devices and listen to their feedback on what worked and what didn’t.
While the idea of making your blog more mobile friendly may seem daunting at first, picking a responsive theme, making content concise, and previewing your posts can make the challenge much easier.
Additional articles you might be interested in:
- How To Start A Profitable Blog In 7 Steps: Taught By Award Winning Blogger Elaine Rau
- 6 Elements To Ponder When Brainstorming Your Blog’s Brand Aesthetics
- 7 Free Top WordPress Themes For Bloggers
- How To Keep Your Website Updated
- 3 Goals You Should Have For The Content You Produce
- How To Discover And Engage With Your Target Audience
- How To Create A Great Logo Design
- 6 Common Mistakes Blocking Your Blog Traffic (And How To Get It Right)
Katelyn Beery is a blogging intern at LadyBossBlogger.com. She majors in writing at Ithaca College and hopes to pursue a career in either technical or professional writing. She can usually be found cleaning, listening to music, or gazing at clouds.
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