Mobile Optimization
30-60 minIntermediate
With Google's mobile-first indexing, your mobile site IS your master site. If it sucks on a phone, no one will find it.
Prerequisites
- A phone (for testing)
- Admin access
Easy Recommended
Responsive Theme (Standard)
The foundation of mobile SEO.
1
Check Responsiveness
1
Resize your browser window narrow
2
Or use Chrome DevTools (Ctrl+Shift+M)
3
Ensure content stacks vertically, images resize, and no horizontal scrollbar appears
2
Configure Viewport
1
Ensure your theme's header.php contains <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
2
Virtually all modern themes do this automatically
Best Practices
Do
- Use a sticky header for navigation
- Disable intrusive popups on mobile (ranking penalty)
- Simplify menus for mobile screens
- Ensure buttons are finger-friendly
Don't
- Block CSS/JS files in robots.txt (Google needs them to render)
- Use Flash (obsolete)
- Hide critical content on mobile only
Verification Checklist
- Google's Mobile-Friendly Test passes
- Tap targets are at least 48x48px (no "Clickable elements too close" errors)
- Font size is readable (>16px) without zooming
- No "Content wider than screen" errors
Pro Tips
- Test on a real low-end Android device, not just an iPhone 15 Pro.
- Use "content-visibility: auto" CSS property to improve rendering performance on long mobile pages.
Common Issues & Fixes
Problem: Text too small to read
Solution: Set base font-size to 16px or higher in your theme customizer or CSS.
Problem: Clickable elements too close together
Solution: Add padding/margin around buttons and links. Aim for 8px separation.