10 Most Harmful Mobile SEO Mistakes

Mobile SEO is the process of optimizing your website or app for mobile devices, such as smartphones and tablets. Mobile SEO is essential for providing a positive user experience, increasing conversions, and improving SEO rankings.

According to Statista, mobile devices accounted for 54.8% of global web traffic in the first quarter of 2021. This means that more than half of your potential customers are using mobile devices to access your website or app. Therefore, you need to make sure that your website or app is mobile-friendly and meets the expectations and needs of your mobile users.

However, there are some harmful mistakes that many marketers and business owners make, resulting in lower rankings and bad customer experiences. Here are the top 10 mistakes you should avoid to ensure optimum rankings on search engines:

1. Slow Site Speed

Site speed is a critical factor for mobile SEO, as it affects the user experience, the conversion rate, and the SEO ranking. Mobile users expect fast and smooth loading pages, and they will not tolerate slow or laggy ones.

According to Google, the average mobile page load time is 22 seconds, but 53% of mobile users will abandon a page if it takes longer than 3 seconds to load². Moreover, Google uses site speed as a ranking signal for both mobile and desktop searches, and it also considers the Core Web Vitals, which are a set of metrics that measure the loading, interactivity, and visual stability of a page³.

To optimize your site speed, you need to follow these steps:

• Use tools like Google’s PageSpeed Insights, Lighthouse, or WebPageTest to measure and analyze your site speed and performance.
• Compress your images, videos, and other media files to reduce their size and loading time. You can use tools like TinyPNG, Optimizilla, or Cloudinary to compress your images online.
• Minify your HTML, CSS, and JavaScript code to eliminate unnecessary spaces, comments, and characters. You can use tools like HTMLMinifier, CSSNano, or UglifyJS to minify your code online.
• Use a content delivery network (CDN) to distribute your content across multiple servers and locations, reducing the distance and latency between your site and your users. You can use services like Cloudflare, Amazon CloudFront, or Akamai to set up a CDN for your site.
• Implement caching and preloading techniques to store and serve your content faster and more efficiently. You can use plugins like WP Rocket, W3 Total Cache, or Autoptimize to enable caching and preloading for your WordPress site.

2. Intrusive Interstitials

Intrusive interstitials are pop-up ads, banners, or overlays that cover or interfere with the content on your site. They can annoy and frustrate your mobile users, and make them leave your site.

In 2017, Google announced that “pages where content is not easily accessible to a user on the transition from the mobile search results may not rank as high”. This means that intrusive interstitials can harm your SEO ranking and your user experience.

To avoid intrusive interstitials, you need to follow these tips:

• Use interstitials that are relevant, useful, and valuable for your mobile users, such as age verification, cookie consent, or login prompts.
• Use interstitials that are small, unobtrusive, and easy to dismiss, such as banners, notifications, or tooltips.
• Use interstitials that are responsive, adaptive, and compatible with different screen sizes, resolutions, and orientations.
• Use interstitials that are compliant with the Google Webmaster Guidelines, the Better Ads Standards, and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

3. Blocked Resources

Blocked resources are files or elements on your site that are not accessible or crawlable by the search engines, such as images, videos, CSS, or JavaScript. Blocked resources can prevent the search engines from rendering and indexing your site properly, and affect your SEO ranking and your user experience.

To unblock your resources, you need to follow these steps:

• Use tools like Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test, Fetch as Google, or Robots.txt Tester to identify and diagnose your blocked resources.
• Remove or modify any directives or rules that are blocking your resources, such as robots.txt, meta tags, or HTTP headers.
• Allow or enable the search engines to access and crawl your resources, such as images, videos, CSS, or JavaScript.
• Update or resubmit your sitemap to the search engines, to inform them of your changes and request a re-crawl of your site.

4. Unplayable Content

Unplayable content is content that cannot be viewed, played, or downloaded on your mobile devices, such as videos, audio, or flash. Unplayable content can frustrate your mobile users, and make them leave your site.

To avoid unplayable content, you need to follow these tips:

• Use content formats and codecs that are compatible and supported by most mobile devices and browsers, such as MP4, WebM, or HTML5.
• Use responsive and adaptive content that can adjust to different screen sizes, resolutions, and orientations, such as YouTube, Vimeo, or SoundCloud.
• Use fallback options or alternatives that can provide a similar or equivalent content experience, such as transcripts, captions, or thumbnails.
• Use tools like Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test, Lighthouse, or WebPageTest to check and fix your unplayable content.

5. Bad Redirects and Cross Links

Redirects and cross links are the elements that link your site to other sites or pages, such as 301 redirects, canonical tags, or hreflang tags. Redirects and cross links can help you improve your SEO ranking and your user experience, by providing relevant and useful information or resources for your users.

However, bad redirects and cross links can harm your SEO ranking and your user experience, by providing irrelevant or broken information or resources for your users. For example, if you redirect your mobile users to a different or wrong page, or if you link your mobile users to a desktop version of a page, you can confuse and annoy your mobile users, and make them leave your site.

To avoid bad redirects and cross links, you need to follow these tips:

• Use consistent and correct redirects and cross links for your mobile and desktop versions of your site, such as 301 redirects, canonical tags, or hreflang tags.
• Use tools like Google’s Search Console, Screaming Frog, or Moz to check and fix your redirects and cross links.
• Test and verify your redirects and cross links on different devices, browsers, and networks, to ensure that they work properly and provide a good user experience.

6. Mobile-Only 404s

Mobile-only 404s are pages that are accessible and available on your desktop version of your site, but not on your mobile version of your site. Mobile-only 404s can frustrate your mobile users, and make them leave your site.

To avoid mobile-only 404s, you need to follow these tips:

• Use responsive web design to create and maintain one version of your site that works well on both desktop and mobile devices, and eliminates the need for separate mobile and desktop versions of your site.
• Use tools like Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test, Search Console, or Screaming Frog to identify and diagnose your mobile-only 404s.
• Fix or remove any links or references that point to your mobile-only 404s, such as internal links, external links, or sitemaps.
• Provide a helpful and informative 404 page that can guide your mobile users to other relevant or useful pages or resources on your site, such as a search box, a navigation menu, or a contact form.

7. Missing or Inaccurate Structured Data

Structured data is code that helps the search engines understand the context and meaning of your content, such as title, description, author, rating, or price. Structured data can also help generate rich results, such as snippets, images, prices, or FAQs, that can enhance your appearance and relevance in the search engine results pages (SERPs).

However, missing or inaccurate structured data can harm your SEO ranking and your user experience, by providing incomplete or incorrect information or resources for your users. For example, if you do not provide structured data for your products, services, or events, or if you provide structured data that does not match your content, you can miss out on the opportunity to rank higher and attract more clicks and conversions.

To avoid missing or inaccurate structured data, you need to follow these tips:

• Use schema markup and structured data for your content, especially the Local Business schema, which can provide essential information about your business, such as name, address, phone number, website, hours, and reviews.
• Use tools like Google’s Structured Data Testing Tool, Schema.org, or Schema App to create and test your schema markup and structured data.
• Update and maintain your schema markup and structured data to reflect any changes or updates on your content, such as prices, availability, or ratings.

8. Not Specifying Mobile Viewport

Mobile viewport is the area of your site that is visible and accessible on your mobile devices, such as width, height, or zoom. Mobile viewport can affect the layout and functionality of your site, and how your mobile users interact with your site.

Not specifying mobile viewport can harm your SEO ranking and your user experience, by providing a poor and inconsistent layout and functionality for your site. For example, if you do not specify mobile viewport, your site may appear too small, too large, or distorted on your mobile devices, and your mobile users may have to zoom, scroll, or rotate their devices to view your site.

To avoid not specifying mobile viewport, you need to follow these tips:

• Use a meta viewport tag to specify the width, height, and zoom level of your mobile viewport. You can use tools like Viewport Resizer, Responsive Design Checker, or Responsive Viewport Tester to test and optimize your meta viewport tag.
• Use media queries to adjust the layout and style of your site according to different screen sizes and orientations. You can use tools like CSS Grid Generator, Flexbox Generator, or Bootstrap to create and apply responsive layouts and styles for your site.
• Use tools like Chrome DevTools, Firefox Developer Tools, or Safari Web Inspector to test and debug your site on different devices, browsers, and networks, and to ensure that your site looks good and works well on any mobile device.

9. Not Optimizing for Voice Search

Voice search is the process of using voice commands or queries to search for information or perform actions on the web, such as Google Assistant, Siri, or Alexa. Voice search is becoming more popular and prevalent, especially among mobile users, as it offers convenience, speed, and accessibility.

According to Google, 27% of the global online population is using voice search on mobile devices. This means that a significant portion of your potential customers are using voice search to find your products, services, or information. Therefore, you need to optimize your site for voice search, and meet the expectations and needs of your voice search users.

To optimize your site for voice search, you need to follow these tips:

• Use natural and conversational language that matches the tone and style of your voice search users. You should use simple and familiar words, phrases, and sentences, and avoid jargon, acronyms, or abbreviations.
• Use long-tail and question-based keywords that reflect the intent and context of your voice search users. You should use tools like AnswerThePublic, AlsoAsked, or QuestionDB to find and use long-tail and question-based keywords for your site.
• Use schema markup and structured data to provide rich and relevant information and resources for your voice search users, such as ratings, images, prices, or FAQs. You should use tools like Google’s Structured Data Testing Tool, Schema.org, or Schema App to create and test your schema markup and structured data.
• Use tools like Google’s Voice Search Quality Rater Guidelines, Voice Search SEO, or Voice Search Analytics to measure and analyze your voice search performance and user behavior.

10. Not Providing a Mobile-Friendly User Experience

User experience is the overall impression and satisfaction that your users have when they interact with your site. User experience is crucial for mobile SEO, as it affects the engagement, retention, and conversion of your mobile users.

According to Google, 61% of mobile users are unlikely to return to a site that they had trouble accessing, and 40% will visit a competitor’s site instead. This means that a poor user experience can cost you your customers and your revenue. Therefore, you need to provide a mobile-friendly user experience that delights and satisfies your mobile users.

To provide a mobile-friendly user experience, you need to follow these tips:

• Use user feedback and testing to understand and improve your mobile user experience. You should use tools like Google’s User Experience Report, Hotjar, or UserTesting to collect and analyze user feedback and testing data, such as ratings, reviews, surveys, heatmaps, recordings, or usability tests.
• Use user personas and scenarios to design and optimize your mobile user experience. You should use tools like Xtensio, HubSpot, or Userforge to create and use user personas and scenarios, which are fictional representations and stories of your ideal mobile users, their goals, and their journeys.
• Use user interface and user interaction design principles and best practices to create and enhance your mobile user experience. You should use tools like Adobe XD, Figma, or Sketch to create and apply user interface and user interaction design elements, such as colors, shapes, icons, fonts, buttons, menus, or animations.

We hope that this blog post has provided you with some useful and practical information on mobile SEO. If you need help with your Mobile SEO strategy, you can Contact Us.