HOW TO BUILD A MOBILE-FRIENDLY
BUSINESS WEBSITE IN 2015

Building a mobile-friendly business website became a much more important priority for Australian businesses in 2015. Smartphones were changing how customers searched for information, compared businesses and contacted companies. A website designed only for desktop computers could create a poor experience for customers using smaller screens.

The change was also important for search engine optimisation. On 21 April 2015, Google began rolling out its mobile-friendly update, which increased the ranking of mobile-friendly pages in mobile search results. The change applied to individual pages and mobile searches, making mobile usability a practical SEO consideration for businesses.

For Australian businesses, building a mobile-friendly business website in 2015 therefore meant more than making a desktop site look smaller. The website needed to be readable, navigable and useful on smartphones. It also needed to make important actions such as calling, enquiring or finding a business straightforward.

Why Mobile-Friendly Websites Mattered in 2015

Customers were increasingly using smartphones to access websites while away from desktop computers. A customer might search for a service while travelling, compare suppliers during a lunch break or look up a company's contact details from a mobile device.

This changed the expectations placed on business websites. A website that worked well on a large desktop monitor could become frustrating on a smartphone if users had to zoom in, scroll horizontally or struggle with small navigation links.

Google's mobile-friendly update made the issue more urgent for businesses that depended on organic search. Mobile-friendly pages gained a ranking advantage in mobile search, giving businesses another reason to review their websites.

Mobile usability was therefore connected to three business objectives:

• Customer experience: Visitors should be able to find information without unnecessary friction.
• Search visibility: Mobile-friendliness became a ranking signal for mobile search.
• Conversions: Customers should be able to call, enquire, buy or book easily from a smartphone.

Start With a Mobile Website Audit

Before rebuilding a website, a business should first understand what was wrong with the existing mobile experience.

In 2015, Google provided a Mobile-Friendly Test that allowed website owners to check individual pages. This gave businesses a practical way to identify whether important pages met Google's mobile-friendly criteria.

Businesses could also test their sites manually using different smartphones and screen sizes. A page that technically loaded on a phone could still provide a poor experience for customers.

Questions to ask during a mobile audit

• Can visitors read the text without zooming?
• Can users navigate the website with their fingers?
• Are links and buttons large enough to tap comfortably?
• Does the page fit the width of the smartphone screen?
• Is important content visible without unnecessary scrolling?
• Can customers easily find the phone number and contact form?
• Do enquiry forms work correctly on mobile devices?
• Can customers quickly find the business address or location?

Testing the most important commercial pages first was a sensible approach. Service pages, product pages, contact pages and major landing pages could have a direct effect on enquiries and sales.

Choose a Responsive Web Design Approach

Responsive web design was an important approach to mobile website development in 2015. A responsive website could adapt its layout to different screen sizes rather than requiring customers to use a completely separate desktop and mobile experience.

The basic principle was simple: the same website content could be presented in a layout appropriate to the visitor's device.

For a business website, responsive design could simplify maintenance because the business did not need to manage completely separate desktop and mobile versions of every page.

A responsive layout should adapt

• Navigation menus
• Columns and page sections
• Images and other media
• Typography
• Buttons and calls to action
• Forms
• Tables and other wide content

The goal was not simply to shrink a desktop page. The layout needed to be redesigned where necessary so that the content remained useful and easy to interact with.

Keep Mobile Navigation Simple

Navigation can become one of the biggest problems when a desktop website is moved onto a smartphone. Desktop menus often have enough horizontal space for many categories and subcategories. A smartphone does not.

A mobile-friendly business website should prioritise the pages customers are most likely to need.

For many businesses, this meant making key sections easy to access:

• Products or services
• About the business
• Contact information
• Location or directions
• Pricing where relevant
• Customer information and resources

Navigation should be easy to understand without requiring visitors to pinch, zoom or repeatedly move around the screen.

A simple navigation structure could also benefit desktop users. Removing unnecessary complexity often made the entire website easier to use.

Make Contact Information Easy to Find

Mobile visitors often have a specific action in mind. They may want to call a business, request a quote, send an enquiry or find a physical location.

For this reason, important contact information should not be hidden several levels deep in the website.

A mobile-friendly business website should make it easy to find:

• Phone number
• Email address
• Contact form
• Business address
• Opening hours
• Directions or location information

Where appropriate, phone numbers could be presented in a way that allowed smartphone users to tap and call. Contact forms should also be kept as simple as possible.

Design Forms for Smartphone Users

Long forms can be particularly frustrating on mobile devices. Typing on a smartphone takes more effort than using a desktop keyboard, so businesses should consider whether every field is genuinely necessary.

A mobile enquiry form might only require the information needed to begin a conversation. Additional details could be collected later.

Form fields should be large enough to use comfortably, labels should be clear and error messages should explain what needs to be corrected.

The submission button should also be easy to identify and tap.

Make Text Easy to Read

Mobile visitors should not need to zoom in to read ordinary website content. Text needs to be presented at a comfortable size with enough spacing between lines and sections.

Large blocks of uninterrupted text can also be difficult to read on a small screen. Businesses could improve mobile readability by using short paragraphs, clear headings, bullet points and concise explanations.

This approach also made business content easier to scan. Customers could quickly identify the information relevant to their needs rather than reading every paragraph.

Use Images Carefully

Images can help communicate products, services and brand identity, but they should support the mobile experience rather than dominate it.

Large images can occupy much of a smartphone screen and may contribute to slower page loading. Businesses should therefore consider whether each image adds useful information or simply fills space.

Images should also adapt to the available screen width. A fixed-width image designed for a desktop layout can create horizontal scrolling or other display problems on a smartphone.

Improve Page Loading Performance

Mobile users can be less tolerant of slow websites, particularly when accessing pages over mobile connections. A business website should therefore avoid unnecessary elements that make pages heavier without adding meaningful value.

In 2015, businesses could review image sizes, scripts, page elements and hosting performance as part of a broader website optimisation process.

Page performance was not only a technical concern. It affected how quickly a customer could reach important information.

Practical steps included:

• Optimising large images
• Removing unnecessary page elements
• Reviewing third-party scripts
• Reducing unnecessary redirects
• Using efficient website code
• Reviewing hosting performance

The aim was to create a faster, cleaner experience without sacrificing important functionality.

Design for Mobile Search Visitors

Mobile-friendly design and SEO were increasingly connected in 2015. Google's mobile-friendly update meant that businesses appearing in mobile search needed to think about what happened after the customer clicked the result.

A search result could attract a visitor, but the website still needed to satisfy the visitor's intent.

For example, someone searching for a local business may want its phone number, address, opening hours or service information. If those details are difficult to find on mobile, the business risks losing the opportunity even after earning the search click.

Mobile SEO should therefore be considered as part of the complete journey:

1. Customer searches on a smartphone.
2. Customer sees the business in search results.
3. Customer opens the website.
4. Customer finds the relevant information.
5. Customer takes the desired action.

Prioritise Mobile Calls to Action

A business website should have a clear purpose. On mobile, that purpose needs to be particularly obvious.

Depending on the business, the primary mobile call to action might be:

• Call the business
• Request a quote
• Book an appointment
• Buy a product
• Find a store
• Submit an enquiry
• Download useful information

Too many competing calls to action can make a mobile page difficult to use. Businesses should identify the most valuable next step for each page and make it easy to complete.

Don't Hide Important Content From Mobile Users

When adapting a desktop website for mobile, businesses sometimes removed content simply to make pages shorter. This could create problems if important information was no longer available to mobile visitors.

The better approach was to reorganise content rather than automatically remove it.

Important service details, product information, contact information and other material needed by customers should remain accessible. Responsive design could then present that information in a more appropriate layout.

Build Mobile-Friendly Content

Mobile-friendly design also applies to the content itself. Long introductions, dense paragraphs and unnecessary repetition can make pages difficult to scan.

Business content should answer the visitor's question quickly and then provide additional detail where needed.

Useful mobile content practices included:

• Put the main answer near the beginning of the page.
• Use descriptive headings.
• Keep paragraphs relatively short.
• Use lists for multiple related points.
• Make important information easy to scan.
• Use clear and direct calls to action.

This structure was valuable for mobile users while also making content easier for search engines and desktop visitors to understand.

Test Across Devices

A website that looked good on one smartphone was not necessarily perfect on every device. Screen sizes, browsers and operating systems varied.

Businesses should therefore test important pages across a reasonable selection of devices and browsers available to their customers.

Testing should cover more than the homepage. Service pages, product pages, menus, forms, contact information and conversion paths should all be checked.

Mobile testing checklist

• Homepage layout
• Navigation menu
• Service and product pages
• Contact page
• Forms
• Telephone links
• Images
• Embedded content
• Calls to action
• Page scrolling

Measure What Happens After Launch

Launching a mobile-friendly website should not be the end of the process. Businesses should monitor how customers use the new site.

Analytics could show how much traffic came from mobile devices, which pages mobile visitors viewed and whether visitors completed important actions.

Useful measurements included:

• Mobile website traffic
• Mobile landing pages
• Mobile bounce or exit behaviour
• Enquiry submissions
• Phone enquiries
• Conversions
• Performance of key landing pages

If mobile visitors were reaching a service page but rarely contacting the business, that could indicate a problem with the page content, layout, call to action or overall customer journey.

A Practical Mobile Website Plan for Australian Businesses in 2015

Businesses did not necessarily need to rebuild every part of their website at once. A staged approach could make the transition more manageable.

1. Audit the current site: Identify mobile usability problems on important pages.
2. Test mobile search visibility: Review whether priority pages are mobile-friendly.
3. Plan the structure: Simplify navigation and prioritise important customer actions.
4. Adopt responsive design: Create layouts that adapt to different screen sizes.
5. Optimise content: Make text easy to scan and keep important information accessible.
6. Improve forms and calls to action: Reduce friction for mobile enquiries.
7. Optimise images and performance: Reduce unnecessary page weight.
8. Test thoroughly: Check important pages across devices and browsers.
9. Measure results: Monitor mobile traffic, engagement and conversions.

Common Mobile Website Mistakes to Avoid

Several problems could undermine an otherwise well-designed mobile website.

• Using a desktop layout that requires horizontal scrolling
• Making text too small to read comfortably
• Placing links too close together
• Hiding important contact information
• Using long and difficult forms
• Removing useful content from the mobile experience
• Using large images without optimisation
• Creating complicated navigation menus
• Failing to test forms and calls to action

These issues could frustrate visitors and make it harder for a business to turn mobile search traffic into enquiries or sales.

Conclusion

Building a mobile-friendly business website in 2015 was becoming an essential part of digital marketing for Australian businesses. Google's mobile-friendly update gave businesses an additional reason to prioritise mobile usability, while growing smartphone use was changing how customers interacted with websites.

The strongest mobile websites were not simply smaller versions of desktop websites. They were designed around the needs of smartphone users, with responsive layouts, clear navigation, readable content, accessible contact details, simple forms and focused calls to action.

For Australian businesses, the priority in 2015 was to make the complete journey easier: help customers find the business through search, give them a useful mobile experience and make it straightforward to take the next step.