Art Business Info. for Artists
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    • Being a Professional artist >
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      • Artists Unions
    • Best Art Business Books
    • Learning Opportunities >
      • Art Schools in the UK
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    • Image Management for Artists >
      • How to photograph art
      • How To Scan Artwork
      • How to back up image files
    • Law for Artists >
      • Legal Matters
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      • Brexit Guidance for Art and Artists
    • Business Management for Artists >
      • Risk Management for Artists
      • How to spot Art Scams / Fraud
      • Life in an Art Market Recession
      • Coronavirus COVID-19 and Art
  • MARKETING
    • How to write an Artist's Statement >
      • What is an Artist Statement?
      • Why you need an Artist's Statement
      • TIPS How to write an artist statement
      • The Language of an Artist's Statement
      • What an artist statement should contain
      • Examples of Artists Statements
    • How to write an Artist's Resume or CV >
      • Social Media summaries
      • CV for Artists
      • Resume for Artists
      • Biography for Artists
    • How to sign a painting, drawing or fine art print
    • Business Cards for Artists
    • How to write a press release for an artist
    • The Private View Invitation
    • Publicity for Juried Exhibitions
    • Websites for Artists >
      • Why websites matter
      • Options for Websites
      • Web content for Artists
      • Web design for artists
      • Keeping Google Happy
      • Writing for the Web
    • Image & Video sizes for Social Media Sites
    • How to be mobile-friendly
  • SELL ART
    • Trading Law & Regulations for Artists (UK)
    • E-commerce for artists
    • Art Exhibitions & Competitions >
      • Juried Exhibitions & Art Competitions
      • Juried Art Exhibition Checklist for Artists
      • How to cost a juried exhibition entry
      • How to make labels for an art exhibition
    • A Guide to Art Agents and Consultants
    • A Guide to Art Dealers & Galleries >
      • How to find the right gallery
    • The Artist-run Gallery
    • The Vanity Gallery
    • Art Fairs
    • Alternative Options for Exhibitions
    • How to Sell Art from Home
    • Open Studios
  • FRAME ART
    • List of Recommended Picture Framers
    • Conservation Products
    • Framing for open exhibitions and art competitions
    • Framing Videos
    • How to hang a picture
  • SHIP ART
    • How to pack artwork >
      • How to pack and ship pastel paintings
    • Packaging materials
    • How to ship art internationally >
      • Rules of Origin
      • Export Licences for Cultural Goods
    • How to ship art to exhibitions
    • How to mail art - Post & Parcel Services
    • UK & Ireland: Art Transport Services
    • USA Art Transport Services
  • COPYRIGHT
    • Copyright and artists' rights
    • BASICS: Copyright Infringement and Fair Use
    • How to protect artwork online
    • How to do a reverse image search
    • What to do about copyright infringement - for artists
    • Global Conventions on copyright >
      • Copyright in the UK
      • Copyright in the USA
      • Copyright in Canada
      • Copyright in Australia
  • MONEY & TAX
    • How to work out profit from an art sale
    • How to Price Your Art >
      • How important is price when buying art?
      • Options for Pricing Art
      • Terminology and Formulas for Pricing Art
      • Art Experts on Pricing Art
      • How artists price their art
      • The price of affordable art
    • Payments to Artists >
      • Paying Artists
      • How to create an Invoice
    • VAT for Artists
    • Tax Tips for Artists >
      • Tax on prize money
      • UK Tax Tips for Artists
      • UK: Self-Assessment Video Tips
      • USA Tax Tips for Artists
      • Ireland: Tax for Artists
      • Australia: Tax Tips for Artists
    • Insurance for Art and Artists >
      • Insurance for Art Teachers
      • UK Insurance Policies for art and artists
      • USA & Canada: Insurance Policies for Art and Artists
    • Artists' Grants & Scholarships
    • Retirement and Pensions for Artists
    • The Art Legacy >
      • Estate Planning for Artists
      • Estate Planning for Art Collectors
      • Famous Artists Estates
      • Artwork Inventory
      • After the Death of an Artist
      • Copyright and Resale Rights after Death
      • Art and Inheritance Tax
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How to be mobile-friendly

​Is your website or blog mobile-friendly?

​ It is now absolutely essential to have a mobile-friendly website or blog if you intend people to access it without difficulty.

It's ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL  to get to grips with what's involved in being mobile-friendly now that:
  • More than 50% of browsing for art takes place on mobile devices.
  • Google has decided to rank sites by how mobile-friendly they are.
​
This page covers:
  • The Mobile Friendly Checklist
  • Prioritising for Mobile Devices
  • Responsive Templates
  • More readings about being mobile-friendly
Picture

Two tools to test mobile-friendliness

The two main search engines both have a tool to test out whether or not a website or blog is mobile friendly.  

I recommend you use both as I find they give slightly different results.
  • Google Developers: Mobile Friendly Test
  • Bing: Mobile Friendliness Test Tool
This is what this website looks like ​on the Google Mobile-Friendly Test

The Mobile Friendly Check List

Accessible
​

Technically efficient and effective
​

Is it easy to navigate using a mobile device?
  • Can you find the main menu easily?
  • Are the options all available or is the list truncated?

Can you read the text easily?
  • without changing the magnification?
  • in bright sunshine?
  • Is the font size appropriate?
  • Is there a good contrast between the colour of the font and the background?

Is scrolling easy?
  • Do you have to scroll horizontally (bad)
  • or is all scrolling limited to vertical (i.e. OK)?

Does the content resize to the size of the viewable screen?
  • Is your website using a responsive template?

Does it load quickly using mobile broadband?

Is it compatible with all devices?
  • For example is it read easily by iPads and iPhones (which do NOT use Flash) as well as tablets and Android smart phones?
  • Can browsers and search engines crawl and read all the code on the page?

Do URLs and html stay the same?

Does it pass the Google Mobile-Friendly Test?
  • check whether or not your website is regarded as mobile friendly by using a test developed by Google

Prioritising for mobile devices
​

Responsive templates
​

It's essential that a website works well on a mobile device for the customer. That means:
  • you can read the context easily
  • you can access the navigation easily
  • you can perform basic and important actions easily

Google recommends that you Optimize your entire site for mobile devices.  Google now ranks websites accessed via mobile devices by whether or not the website has been optimised for a mobile experience. If you've not updated your website will not rank well for mobile devices.

Mobile devices are now the technology of choice for many people browsing websites.
  • lots of people have switched to mobile devices for browsing (and the numbers are increasing exponentially every quarter). Hence you need to deliver a good experience on every type of mobile device both tablets and smartphones.
  • Over 50% of traffic to retail sites now comes from mobile devices.
  • Failure to rework a website so that it is compatible with mobile devices can mean that traffic reduces over time.
Responsive templates enable a web design to resize automatically for any screen size. Plus when using a responsive web design:
  • the html stays the same
  • the URLs for each page stay the same (i.e. no 'mobile version' URLs)
If your site is NOT mobile friendly it will be difficult if not impossible to read easily on a mobile device.
​
Google recommends responsive web design and provides some excellent advice about:
  • Multi-Device Layouts.  I recommend studying this.
  • Principles of Site Design - this covers home page and site navigation and usability plus tips for those wanting to include e-commerce on their website
In my blog post Companies who can resize your website for different screen sizes I detail a list of companies that Google is highlighting as approved multi-screen vendors.


More about mobile indexing and being mobile-friendly for search engines
​

Mobile-first indexing means Google predominantly uses the mobile version of the content for indexing and ranking. Google
Mobile-first is happening whether you like it or not
Marion Haynes
If you have different websites for mobile and desktop and your mobile website has far less content – you do have something to worry about. Yoast

Google

Getting Started - includes tips on:
  • top 3 things to know when building mobile websites
  • top 3 mistakes to avoid
Google is aiming to have just one index - for all desktop and mobile sites at some point in the future. It's been giving more and more priority to mobile-first indexing over time.
Mobile Indexing: Google emphasises mobile indexing.
  • Mobile-first indexing best practices | Google Developers - very detailed guidance for all the things you (or your website hosts) should be doing.
The following are helpful Google blog posts about this topic.
  • Prepare for mobile-first indexing (with a little extra time) (21 July 2020) - states timeline for 
  • Announcing mobile first indexing for the whole web (March 2020) - advises about multiple ways to check for mobile indexing in Search Console
  • Mobile-First Indexing by default for new domains (May 2019) 
  • Mobile-first Indexing (November 2016) - announced the intention to move towards mobile-first indexing
REFERENCE: from non-Google sources
  • Mobile-First Indexing – The Complete Guide | Marion Haynes - she aims to provide everything you need to know about mobile-first indexing and her updates to her guide stay on this url.
  • Mobile-first indexing | Yoast (2020)

Bing

  • Our approach to mobile-friendly search | Bing - this is what matters to Bing
  • Mobile Friendliness | Bing - This article describes the Mobile Friendliness Test Tool and the factors that determine mobile friendliness

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ABOUT ART BUSINESS INFO. FOR ARTISTS
This website aims to provide a compendium of resources about the art business for artists. Please read "PLEASE NOTE"

It helps artists learn how to do better at being business-like, marketing and selling their art and looking after their financial security.
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  • CONTACT ME
Copyright: 2015-2021 Katherine Tyrrell | Making A Mark Publications
​
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If you've got any suggestions for what you'd like to see on this website please send me your suggestion
PLEASE NOTE:
1) Content and the law change all the time. It's impossible to keep up with it if you're not working on the topic full time. 
​2) I research topics carefully. However, I am totally unable to warrant that 
ANY and/or ALL information is 
  • complete and/or
  • professional and/or
  • wholly accurate and/or 
  • all links lead to the most current information (at the time of writing)​
​3) Hence all information I provide comes without any LIABILITY whatsoever to you for any choices you make. 
4) This website is FREE FOR YOU but not for me. ​Links to books are Amazon Affiliate links. Buying a book via this website means I get a very small payment which helps to fund and maintain this website. .I much appreciate any support your provide. Adverts are provided by Google AdSense - but the adverts do not mean I endorse the advertiser.
  • Home
    • Art Business Information Index
  • NEWS
  • PRACTICE
    • Starting Out - Tips
    • Being a Professional artist >
      • Working Lives of Professional Artists
      • Artists' Side Hustles
      • Artists' Residencies
      • Artists Unions
    • Best Art Business Books
    • Learning Opportunities >
      • Art Schools in the UK
      • Art Business Courses
    • Image Management for Artists >
      • How to photograph art
      • How To Scan Artwork
      • How to back up image files
    • Law for Artists >
      • Legal Matters
      • Data Protection for Art and Artists
      • Brexit Guidance for Art and Artists
    • Business Management for Artists >
      • Risk Management for Artists
      • How to spot Art Scams / Fraud
      • Life in an Art Market Recession
      • Coronavirus COVID-19 and Art
  • MARKETING
    • How to write an Artist's Statement >
      • What is an Artist Statement?
      • Why you need an Artist's Statement
      • TIPS How to write an artist statement
      • The Language of an Artist's Statement
      • What an artist statement should contain
      • Examples of Artists Statements
    • How to write an Artist's Resume or CV >
      • Social Media summaries
      • CV for Artists
      • Resume for Artists
      • Biography for Artists
    • How to sign a painting, drawing or fine art print
    • Business Cards for Artists
    • How to write a press release for an artist
    • The Private View Invitation
    • Publicity for Juried Exhibitions
    • Websites for Artists >
      • Why websites matter
      • Options for Websites
      • Web content for Artists
      • Web design for artists
      • Keeping Google Happy
      • Writing for the Web
    • Image & Video sizes for Social Media Sites
    • How to be mobile-friendly
  • SELL ART
    • Trading Law & Regulations for Artists (UK)
    • E-commerce for artists
    • Art Exhibitions & Competitions >
      • Juried Exhibitions & Art Competitions
      • Juried Art Exhibition Checklist for Artists
      • How to cost a juried exhibition entry
      • How to make labels for an art exhibition
    • A Guide to Art Agents and Consultants
    • A Guide to Art Dealers & Galleries >
      • How to find the right gallery
    • The Artist-run Gallery
    • The Vanity Gallery
    • Art Fairs
    • Alternative Options for Exhibitions
    • How to Sell Art from Home
    • Open Studios
  • FRAME ART
    • List of Recommended Picture Framers
    • Conservation Products
    • Framing for open exhibitions and art competitions
    • Framing Videos
    • How to hang a picture
  • SHIP ART
    • How to pack artwork >
      • How to pack and ship pastel paintings
    • Packaging materials
    • How to ship art internationally >
      • Rules of Origin
      • Export Licences for Cultural Goods
    • How to ship art to exhibitions
    • How to mail art - Post & Parcel Services
    • UK & Ireland: Art Transport Services
    • USA Art Transport Services
  • COPYRIGHT
    • Copyright and artists' rights
    • BASICS: Copyright Infringement and Fair Use
    • How to protect artwork online
    • How to do a reverse image search
    • What to do about copyright infringement - for artists
    • Global Conventions on copyright >
      • Copyright in the UK
      • Copyright in the USA
      • Copyright in Canada
      • Copyright in Australia
  • MONEY & TAX
    • How to work out profit from an art sale
    • How to Price Your Art >
      • How important is price when buying art?
      • Options for Pricing Art
      • Terminology and Formulas for Pricing Art
      • Art Experts on Pricing Art
      • How artists price their art
      • The price of affordable art
    • Payments to Artists >
      • Paying Artists
      • How to create an Invoice
    • VAT for Artists
    • Tax Tips for Artists >
      • Tax on prize money
      • UK Tax Tips for Artists
      • UK: Self-Assessment Video Tips
      • USA Tax Tips for Artists
      • Ireland: Tax for Artists
      • Australia: Tax Tips for Artists
    • Insurance for Art and Artists >
      • Insurance for Art Teachers
      • UK Insurance Policies for art and artists
      • USA & Canada: Insurance Policies for Art and Artists
    • Artists' Grants & Scholarships
    • Retirement and Pensions for Artists
    • The Art Legacy >
      • Estate Planning for Artists
      • Estate Planning for Art Collectors
      • Famous Artists Estates
      • Artwork Inventory
      • After the Death of an Artist
      • Copyright and Resale Rights after Death
      • Art and Inheritance Tax
  • About + Help
    • Would you like me to help?
    • Privacy & Cookies Policy
    • Contact