How to Check If Your Website Is Mobile-Friendly
Simple ways to test your site on mobile, and the problems most often found.
Most searches worldwide happen on phones, and Google uses the mobile version of your pages for indexing and ranking (mobile-first indexing). Google retired its standalone Mobile-Friendly Test, but checking your site on mobile is easy with other free methods.
Method 1: Test on real phones
Nothing beats picking up a phone. Test on at least one Android and one iPhone, ideally including an older or smaller model. Try key tasks: reading an article, finding contact details, adding a product to the cart, filling in a form.
Method 2: Browser device mode
In Chrome or another browser, open developer tools and switch on device mode. Pick common screen widths such as 360, 390 and 414 pixels, and rotate to landscape. Check for horizontal scrolling and cut-off content.
Method 3: Lighthouse and PageSpeed Insights
Run a mobile test to see speed, tap target and viewport issues. PageSpeed Insights also shows real-user mobile data when available. Read how to check website speed for free.
Method 4: A full audit
Run your main templates through the free site audit report, which checks the viewport setting, mobile layout signals and speed together.
What to look for
- Viewport tag β pages need a responsive viewport meta tag.
- Text size β readable without zooming (around 16 pixels for body text).
- Tap targets β buttons and links large enough and not too close together.
- No horizontal scrolling β wide tables, images or code blocks often cause it.
- Pop-ups β intrusive interstitials covering content on mobile annoy users.
- Same content as desktop β content hidden on mobile may not be indexed well.
- Fast loading on mobile networks.
Fixing common problems
- Make tables scroll inside their own container.
- Set images to a maximum width of 100%.
- Increase button padding on mobile.
- Replace full-screen pop-ups with small banners.
Layout jumps are covered in how to fix cumulative layout shift.
A worked example
A Kenyan safari operator's site looked fine on desktop, but on phones the price tables pushed the page sideways and the "Enquire" button sat under a chat widget. Most visitors came from mobile. Making the tables scroll inside their box and moving the chat icon raised mobile enquiries noticeably within a month.
A five-minute mobile test
- Open your homepage on a phone and scroll to the bottom.
- Open the menu and visit two important pages.
- Try the main action: buy, book, call or submit a form.
- Rotate the phone and check nothing breaks.
- Zoom out and look for any sideways scrolling.
Note every moment of frustration. Each one is a problem real customers face β usually more often than the people who built the site realise.
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Frequently asked questions
Does Google still have a mobile-friendly test?
The standalone test was retired. Use Lighthouse, PageSpeed Insights, device mode and real phones.
What is mobile-first indexing?
Google mainly uses the mobile version of a page for indexing and ranking.
Is responsive design required?
Not strictly, but it is the simplest and most reliable approach.
Should mobile pages have less content?
No. Keep the same main content on mobile and desktop.