For businesses in 2025, having a mobile-optimised website is no longer a ‘nice to have’ – it’s essential. With over 60% of web traffic now coming from mobile devices, search engines like Google are prioritising mobile-friendly sites in their rankings. That means if your website isn’t mobile-ready, you’re not just offering a poor user experience, you’re also losing visibility, traffic, and potential business.
At We Get Digital, we’ve put together this comprehensive Mobile Optimisation Checklist to help you ensure your website performs brilliantly on mobile, ranks well in search engines, and delights your visitors.
Why Mobile Optimisation Matters
Before diving into the checklist, it’s worth understanding why mobile optimisation is such a vital part of your digital strategy.
- Google’s Mobile-First Indexing: Google now uses the mobile version of your website as the primary version for indexing and ranking.
- User Expectations: Mobile users expect fast, easy-to-navigate websites. If your site doesn’t load quickly or display correctly, they’ll likely leave.
- Conversion Rates: A mobile-optimised site encourages action, whether that’s making a purchase, booking a service, or getting in touch.
So, let’s get into it. Here’s your ultimate Mobile Optimisation Checklist.
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Responsive Design
Does your site quickly adapt to different screen sizes and orientations?
A responsive website layout ensures your content looks great on all devices -from smartphones to tablets. Instead of building separate mobile and desktop versions, responsive design uses flexible grids, images, and media queries to adjust content fluidly.
Tips:
- Use CSS media queries to define breakpoints.
- Test your layout across popular devices.
- Avoid fixed widths – let content flow naturally within the screen.
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Mobile Page Speed
Does your site load quickly on mobile connections?
Speed is a critical ranking factor for mobile search. According to Google, 53% of mobile users abandon sites that take more than 3 seconds to load. That’s a massive chunk of lost traffic if your site is sluggish.
Tips:
- Compress images and use modern formats (like WebP).
- Minimise CSS, JavaScript, and HTML.
- Enable lazy loading for images and video.
- Use a content delivery network (CDN).
- Reduce server response times.
Use tools like Google PageSpeed Insights or GTmetrix to diagnose speed issues.
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Mobile-Friendly Navigation
Is your navigation easy to use with fingers and thumbs?
Mobile screens are smaller, so navigation must be simple, intuitive, and touch-friendly.
Tips:
- Use a hamburger menu or sticky navigation bar.
- Make buttons and links large enough to tap easily.
- Keep menu options minimal and prioritise key pages.
- Avoid hover-based menus (they don’t work well on mobile.)
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Clear, Readable Content
Can users easily read and interact with your content on mobile?
Big blocks of text and tiny fonts are a major turn-off on mobile. Your content should be scannable, legible, and easy to digest on small screens.
Tips:
- Use font sizes of at least 16px.
- Break content into short paragraphs and bullet points.
- Avoid pop-ups that block the main content.
- Ensure adequate contrast between text and background.
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Optimise Images for Mobile
Are your images appropriately sized for mobile devices?
Large, high-resolution images can tank your load speed and frustrate users. Optimising images is one of the quickest wins in your mobile optimisation checklist.
Tips:
- Use responsive image techniques (srcset in HTML).
- Compress images before uploading.
- Avoid decorative images that don’t add value.
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Touch-Friendly Design Elements
Are your buttons and forms also designed for touch interactions?
Designing for touch also means considering how people interact with their thumbs – not a mouse. If your buttons are too close together or too small, users may click the wrong one, or worse, give up.
Tips:
- Ensure a minimum target size of 44×44 pixels.
- Space out clickable elements to avoid accidental taps.
- Avoid overly complex form fields.
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Test for Mobile Usability
Have you tested your website across different mobile devices and screen sizes?
It’s easy to assume your site works well on mobile, but unless you test it thoroughly, you could be missing issues.
Tools:
- Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test – Check how Google sees your mobile site.
- BrowserStack or LambdaTest – Test on different devices and screen sizes.
- Your own phone – Sometimes the best test is a hands-on check.
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Prioritise Mobile SEO
Are you following SEO best practices for mobile?
Mobile optimisation and SEO go hand-in-hand. A mobile-friendly site will typically rank better in Google search results.
Tips:
- Use structured data (Schema.org) to help Google understand your content.
- Optimise mobile page titles and meta descriptions for visibility on smaller screens.
- Ensure your site is crawlable and not blocked by robots.txt.
- Avoid intrusive interstitials that can penalise rankings.
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Streamline Your Mobile Forms
Are your forms quick and easy to complete on mobile?
Filling out forms on a mobile device can be frustrating. Simplify the process to keep your users engaged and boost conversions.
Tips:
- Use autofill and input masks (e.g., for phone numbers).
- Keep fields to a minimum- ask only for what you need.
- Use mobile-friendly form fields like dropdowns and toggles.
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Mobile-First Design Strategy
Are you designing with mobile in mind first, not as an afterthought?
A mobile-first strategy means designing your site with mobile screens as the primary focus, then scaling up to desktop. This approach ensures your content and UX are fully optimised for mobile users, who are often your biggest audience.
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Use AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages) — Optional
Are you leveraging AMP for super-fast content delivery?
AMP is a framework from Google that allows pages to load almost instantly. It’s especially useful for blogs and news content, though it’s optional and not always necessary for every site.
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Monitor and Maintain
Are you regularly checking for new mobile issues?
Mobile optimisation isn’t a one-time job. Devices change, browsers update, and user expectations evolve. Regular monitoring helps you stay ahead of the curve.
Tips:
- Monitor Google Search Console for mobile usability issues.
- Review analytics to identify bounce rates and time on site for mobile users.
- Continually test new design tweaks and performance improvements.
Mobile optimisation is about more than just making your website “work” on a smaller screen. It’s about delivering a seamless, speedy, and satisfying experience that encourages users to stay, engage, and take action.
By following this Mobile Optimisation Checklist, you’ll not only boost your search rankings but also improve your site’s performance, user satisfaction, and conversion rates.
At We Get Digital, we help businesses create responsive, SEO-optimised websites that perform beautifully across all devices. If your current website isn’t mobile-friendly (or you’re not sure) get in touch with our team. We’ll carry out a full audit and help you optimise for success in today’s mobile-first world.
Need Help with Mobile Optimisation?
We can make your website faster, more user-friendly, and ready for search engines. Contact us today for a free website review or to chat about your digital goals.
