A Checklist on Mobile Optimization for Law Firms
The factors that Google uses to rank pages on search engine page results (SERPS) continue to evolve. Mobility is one of the factors that Google considers very important when it comes to ranking your website. Therefore, law firms need to optimize their website and create an SEO strategy that includes mobile as well as desktop. With the prevalence of smartphones, it is more likely than ever before that potential clients will look for a lawyer on their phone instead of via their computer. When this happens, you want your firm to be at the top of the list of Google results.
Even worse, what happens if you make it to the top of the rankings and get that click, but then your website fails to load properly? To make sure this does not happen, follow this mobile optimization checklist.
Use PageSpeed Insights
Google offers many different tools to optimize your website for mobile devices, including PageSpeed Insights. This program will check the speed at which your website loads on mobile, so use the information on it wisely. Remember that if your website loads fully in less than five seconds, you will enjoy an average of 70 percent longer on site.
Optimize for Voice Search
While voice search is still growing in popularity, it is already used by many people around the world. Take advantage of this by doing some optimization regarding voice search keywords. You can find more information on voice search optimization, but the general idea is to use long tail keywords that have organic language. Think of what people would ask Alexa or Siri that would lead them to your website and optimize for that.
Consider Google AMP
If you can, think about changing your blog so it is on Google AMP. Google Accelerated Mobile Pages will improve the loading speed for your website. As mentioned, that boost to loading speed will help you keep website visitors, dropping your bounce rate.
Ensure All Images and Video Are Available
One aspect of mobile optimization for your law firm that is easy to accidentally overlook is the availability of images and video. In the case of video players that are not responsive, you may run into issues where the player loads at full size on mobile devices. This would make it too large to view. Alternatively, if your website relies on incompatible files or old coding methods, videos and images may not fully load on every mobile device.
Visit Your Website on Mobile
One of the most basic things you should do when checking your law firm’s website for mobile optimization is to actually visit it on a mobile device. Check that the video and images load properly and make sure that the text is visible, without requiring any zooming. Confirm that you can click around your website with ease. Check these things on mobile devices running different browsers and both iOS and Android.
Minimize Pop-Ups
Finally, consider the pop-ups that your website uses and how those affect the mobile viewing experience. Most users find pop-ups annoying on desktop websites, but they become a major deterrent on mobile devices. This is particularly true if they do not adapt in size for mobile. To avoid this problem, minimize your use of pop-ups and if you have to use them, ensure they load fast and visitors can eliminate them with just a click.
Takeaway
If your law firm’s website isn’t optimized for mobile, potential clients will just move on and go back to the search engine, choosing the next lawyer in the list. Without mobile optimization, you will lose potential clients who find you via their smartphones. Follow our checklist to ensure your law firm’s site is indeed mobile friendly or contact us for help.
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