Learning Mobile Optimization for Author’s Website

With today’s modern internet users choosing to go mobile via smartphones and tablets, learning mobile optimization is essential for digital marketing and is a must for self-published authors up their book marketing strategy.

For self-published authors, digital marketing is a way to level the playing field. The author’s website serves as the base of digital book marketing operations. The website contains the author’s contact and product information. It is also home to his or her other marketing materials- book trailers, digital sell sheets, etc. The website pretty much is the main platform for contact building, brand publicity, social media advertising, and whatever marketing campaign you will design in the future. More importantly, this is the base for building your online reputation as a serious writer and literary person.

What is site optimization, in the first place?

Website optimization or commonly referred to nowadays as SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is the idea or process of employing controlled changes in your website so when user search your brand or product, it appears higher in search engine results or SERFS. Since Google is the top search engine, it makes sense to optimize your website based on the standards that Google sets. This is also known as the Google Algorithm. Its algorithm is how Google finds, ranks, and displays the relevant search results. Google algorithms change from time to time, that is why it is important to keep track of the trends, so you can make adjustments to your site. An optimized (and competitive) website design has three characteristics aside from the basic SEO requirements:

• Mobile optimized
• Mobile friendly
• Responsive

Mobile optimization and why it plays a huge advantage for self-published authors.

For SEO specialists, understanding of the importance of optimizing your website also means that every website should be mobile-friendly. Among the three designs, having your website mobile optimized is the most sophisticated. It allows your site to reformat itself for different devices, especially for certain handheld devices. Visitors will be able to navigate easily featuring large buttons and command options. Designing a mobile optimized site will also ensure that it loads properly even on desktops and tablets. It allows you site to be accessed quicker and better web performance. Hence, a remarkable user experience for your visitors. That alone is a huge advantage as far as promoting your site and building up your online credibility.

Optimizing your site for mobile use is the key to reaching your target audience, those you embrace it sooner have more chance for success.

The mobile traffic is increasing each year, allowing millions to visit sites faster and easier. Authors that already have an existing website can optimize their site and recalibrate it to create a whole new pleasant user experience and increase traffic.

According to moz.com,

“Mobile SEO Best Practices

If your site is already well optimized for search engines, there are only a few additional things that you need to think about when optimizing for mobile devices and Google’s move to mobile-first indexing.

Page speed

Because of hardware and connectivity issues, page speed is even more important for mobile users than desktop users. Beyond optimizing images, you’ll want to minify code, leverage browser caching, and reduce redirects. More information on page speed can be found on our SEO Best Practices for Page Speed page.

Don’t block CSS, JavaScript, or images

In the old days, some mobile devices couldn’t support all of these elements, so webmasters of mobile sites blocked one or all three. But for the most part that’s no longer true, and the Smartphone GoogleBot wants to be able to see and categorize the same content that users do. So don’t hide it. These elements are also critical to helping Google understand if you have a responsive site or a different mobile solution.

Site design for mobile

Mobile devices are simplifying and revolutionizing the ways sites are designed. “Above the fold” no longer has meaning in a world where we scroll endlessly

Don’t use Flash

The plugin may not be available on your user’s phone, which means they’ll miss out on all the fun. If you want to create special effects, use HTML5 instead.

Don’t use pop-ups either

It can be difficult and frustrating to try and close these on a mobile device. This might lead to a high bounce rate.

Design for the fat finger

Touch screen navigation can lead to accidental clicks if your buttons are too big, too small, or in the path of a finger that’s trying to get the page to scroll.

Optimize titles and meta descriptions

Remember that you’re working with less screen space when a user searches using a mobile device. To show off your best work in SERPS, be as concise as possible (without sacrificing the quality of the information) when creating titles, URLs, and meta descriptions.

Use Schema.org structured data

Because of the limited screen space, a search result with rich snippets is even more likely to stand out than on a desktop. Read more about Schema.org structured data.

Optimize for local search

If your business has a local element, remember to optimize your mobile content for local search. This includes standardizing your name, address, and phone number and including your city and state name in your site’s metadata. More information on local SEO can be found here.

Mobile site configuration

Probably the most important decision you’ll make when setting up a site is deciding whether you want to use a responsive, dynamic serving, or separate site configuration. Each has its advantages and disadvantages. Google prefers responsive design but supports all three options as long as you have set them up properly.”

The future of digital book marketing depends on how you optimized your platform to reach thousands of possible customers. There is no doubt that in the coming years, more and more internet users will abandon desktops and embrace smartphones, laptops, ipads, and tablets. Authors must catch up with technological advancements as well.

ReadersMagnet offers dynamic and mobile optimized websites for self-published authors who want to big get into the book marketing game. You can contact ReadersMagnet Self-Publishing at their office number: (619) 354 2643 Toll Free Number: (800) 805 0762 Fax Number: (661) 338 1442 or email them at info@readersmagnet.com for more details.