How to Optimise Your Travel Website For Mobile Users

Internet users are accessing the web via their mobile devices more and more these days. And if you have a travel website, now is a great time to make sure it is optimised for mobiles.

Not only will you improve the user experience for your visitors by optimising your site, but you could also give it a boost in the search engines.

Google recently updated its algorithms to give a preference in the mobile search engines to mobile-friendly sites, so now there is even more reason to make sure your site is optimised.

Will your mobile site have the same purpose?

The first thing to ask yourself is whether your mobile site should be used in the same way as your desktop version.

For example, your full website may have a large form to fill in, but people may be less keen to fill this out when using a mobile device because it gets fiddly. You therefore have to decide whether you really want visitors to provide the same information.

If you want visitors to make purchases directly through the website, you may find that you need to simplify the process. Although people are becoming more familiar with buying on their mobile devices, the experience needs to be easy, so make sure you optimise the process.

Create a responsive website

One of the best ways to make your site mobile friendly is to make it responsive. Responsive design is where you create one version of your site, and it then adapts automatically to different screen sizes.

It is more complex than simply creating a separate mobile version of your website, but it is easier to maintain because you only have one site to look after. Our travel website designers are experts in responsive design, and we often recommend it.

Google has also suggested that it prefers responsive sites, so this could help you with your SEO.

Test the navigation

Once you have optimised your site for mobiles, make sure you try it out yourself or get others to test it for you. You should be able to navigate it with ease using just your thumb without having to pinch the screen.

Ensure content is easy to access

You may have a lot of content on your site, but remember to keep mobile visitors in mind. They may not want to read long articles, so consider keeping them shorter. Text should also be clear and easy to read, and the layouts should be simple. If you have calls to action, make sure they are easy to see and that they stand out.

Keep it simple

The design should be simple and clean. Avoid clutter, and don't try and pack in too much in the way of videos and graphics. You want the page to load quickly, so make sure the images are optimised for mobiles, and cut out extra features that are not needed.

Launch your mobile site today

A mobile-friendly site should really be considered essential by any travel company, so now is a great time to launch yours. Improve the user experience, boost your search engine position and get ahead of the competition by ensuring your site is mobile friendly today.