How to make your blog mobile friendly?

Before we start here are some important questions 

1. Do you want more mobile subscribers and readers?
2. Is your blog suitable for a mobile device? 

In 2012, mobile users spent 63% more time on their devices accessing mobile websites and apps and this is set to increase. In this article I’ll explore the importance of mobile for your blog and the different options available to you to use. 

Is Mobile Important for Your Blog?

Yes! An increasing number of your readers will access your blog from their mobile devices. Smartphone usage will continue to increase and don’t be surprised if more people access your blog from a mobile device rather than a desktop in the future.

Before you make an investment in this area, it’s useful to check your analytics to find out how many people access your blog from a mobile device.Most analytic programs will provide you with this information.

If you use Google Analytics  under the Audience section, select Mobile > Overview. This screen shows you the amount of traffic that comes from a mobile device. Switch to a pie chart view and you will see the percentage of your site’s traffic that is coming from mobile.

Under Devices, you can see which mobile devices your visitors use. In this example, you can see the iPhone and iPad are the most popular options. Although an iPad has a larger screen size than an iPhone, there are still potential issues viewing your blog through it.

Do your sharing icons work on the mobile device? Can users comment? Is there far too much scrolling to the right required? Generally is most blogs close to 20% of all the traffic comes from a mobile device. Is that something you can ignore?

Check out your site. What percentage of traffic do you get from mobile devices? Has this increased? Is it likely to increase further?

How to Test Your Blog

The best way to test your site is try to view and interact with your blog from a variety of mobile devices (iPhone, iPad, Samsung Galaxy, etc.). Google provides a website called How to Go Mo which helps you test your mobile website for mobile compatibility.