Look, if you’re reading this on a laptop, you’re in the minority.
Most of your customers are finding you while they’re sitting in their car, standing in a queue for coffee, or lying on the couch at 9 PM. They’re on their phones. And because they’re on their phones, Google is on their phones too.
There’s a bit of jargon for this called "mobile-first indexing." Most agencies will try to charge you a grand just to explain what that means. I’ll do it for free: Google now looks at the mobile version of your site to decide where you rank.
If your mobile site is rubbish, your rankings will tank. Even if your desktop site looks like a masterpiece.
If you aren't showing up when people search, you aren't getting phone calls. It’s that simple. Here is how to fix it without losing your mind or your budget.
Why Google Stopped Caring About Your Desktop Site
For years, Google looked at the computer version of your website first. The phone version was an afterthought.
That changed because people changed. In Brisbane, whether you’re a plumber in Chermside or an accountant in Milton, about 60-70% of your traffic is likely coming from a thumb and a small screen.
Google’s goal is to keep people using Google. If they send a user to a site where the text is too small to read or the buttons don't work, that user gets annoyed. Google doesn't want annoyed users. So, they just stop showing sites that provide a bad experience on a phone.
If you want to understand the bigger picture of how this fits into your overall strategy, have a look at our intro to SEO. It’s a solid starting point for seeing how all these moving parts actually help you make money.
Step 1: The "Fat Finger" Test
This is the easiest test in the world. Open your website on your own phone.
Can you easily click your phone number with your thumb? Or do you have to zoom in like you’re looking for a lost contact lens?
If your buttons are too close together, people will click the wrong thing, get frustrated, and leave. In the marketing world, they call that a bounce. In the real world, we call that a lost lead.
What to do: Make sure every "Call Now" or "Enquire Today" button is big. It should be at least 44 pixels high (your web person will know what that means). There should be plenty of space around it so people don't accidentally click your "Privacy Policy" when they’re trying to book a quote.
Step 2: Stop Making People Wait
Nothing kills a sale faster than a spinning loading icon.
When someone is on 4G or 5G in a patchy area, your site needs to be lean. If you’ve got massive, uncompressed photos of your team or your latest project, your site will load like a wet week.
Most people will wait about three seconds before they hit the back button and click on your competitor instead. You’ve just paid Google (either in time or ads) to send a customer to the bloke down the road.
What to do: - Tell your web person to "compress the images." - Get rid of any fancy animations that don't actually help sell your service. - Test your site speed on a mobile connection, not your fast office Wi-Fi.
If your site is fast, you'll start to get more calls because people actually stick around long enough to see what you do.
Step 3: Content Consistency (Don't Hide the Goods)
A few years ago, it was popular to have a "light" version of your site for mobile. You’d hide half the text to make it look cleaner.
That is a massive mistake now.
If Google is looking at your mobile site to rank you, and you’ve hidden all the best info on the mobile version, Google thinks that info doesn't exist. You won't rank for the services you’ve hidden.
What to do: Your mobile site and desktop site should have the same words. You might stack things differently—maybe the contact form goes at the bottom on a phone and on the side on a laptop—but the information must be the same.
Step 4: The Pop-up Plague
We’ve all seen them. You land on a site and a massive box pops up asking you to join a newsletter you don't want. On a desktop, it’s annoying. On a phone, it’s a death sentence.
If a pop-up covers the main content on a mobile screen, Google will penalise you. They hate it. Your customers hate it more.
What to do: Kill the pop-ups. If you absolutely must have one, make sure it only takes up a tiny bit of the screen or only shows up after they’ve finished reading. But honestly? Just get rid of them. Focus on making your phone number easy to find instead.
Step 5: Think About How People Talk
When people are on their phones, they don't always type. They use their voice.
"Hey Siri, find a mechanic near me." "Okay Google, who is the best family lawyer in Brisbane?"
If your website content is written like a formal university essay, you’re missing out. You need to write the way people talk. This is a huge part of how you win voice search and get those local enquiries.
What to do: Include a FAQ section on your main pages. Use real questions that your customers actually ask you on the phone. - "How much does a hot water system cost?" - "Do you do emergency call-outs in Paddington?" - "How long does a termite inspection take?"
Is This Going to Cost a Fortune?
If your website was built in the last three or four years, it’s probably already "responsive" (which just means it changes shape to fit the screen).
In that case, fixing these issues shouldn't cost much. It’s mostly just tidying things up—making buttons bigger, shrinking image sizes, and making sure the text is readable. You’re looking at a few hours of work for a decent dev.
If your website is ten years old and looks like a postage stamp on a phone? Honestly, it’s probably time to start again. Trying to patch up an ancient site is like trying to put a turbocharger on a 1998 Corolla. You can do it, but it’s a waste of money and it’ll still break down.
A modern, mobile-friendly site is an investment, not a cost. If it brings in two extra jobs a month, it’s paid for itself in no time.
What You Should Do First
Don't take my word for it. Go to your Google Search Console (or ask your marketing person for the report). Look at the "Mobile Usability" section. It will literally give you a list of what’s broken.
If you see errors like "Text too small to read" or "Clickable elements too close together," that is your to-do list.
Fix those first. Then worry about the fancy stuff.
My Honest Take
Most business owners ignore this because it feels technical. It’s not. It’s about being easy to do business with.
If I’m standing in my flooded kitchen at 2 AM, I don't care about your "innovative plumbing solutions." I want a big button that says "Call Now" that I can hit with my shaking thumb.
Be the business that makes it easy for the customer, and Google will reward you for it.
If you’re not sure if your site is up to scratch, or you’re sick of your current agency giving you the runaround with technical talk, give us a shout at Local Marketing Group. We’ll take a look and tell you straight if it’s rubbish or if it just needs a few tweaks.
Let’s get those phones ringing.