What are your mobile editing best practices?

I was recently invited to speak to some local San Diego writers and editors about mobile editing best practices. For the most part, mobile editing best practices are the same as web editing best practices. With just a few tweaks.

Nine Mobile Editing and Writing Best Practices

Here are 9 mobile editing best practices you need to consider when thinking about mobile content.

1. All digital content should be mobile friendly. If you are a digital editor or writer, you are a mobile editor and writer too.
2. Prioritize your core messages with key stakeholders.
3. Create scannable, meaningful headlines. If all they read are the headlines, do they get the point?
4. Put a summary or your point at the top, and in every "block." Don't make your audience work for it. Don't expect them to read it all, top to bottom.
5. Create chunked, bite-size paragraphs. Shorter paragraphs are easier to follow on the web, and especially on a small digital screen.
6. Make all your links self-explanatory. It's good for scanning, SEO, and accessibility.
7. Be space agnostic. Avoid the "see diagram at right," language. You don't know where the diagram may appear on mobile.
8. Test your content on mobile devices (see deck for tips).
9. Developers and designers aren't likely going to tell you what the mobile experience differences will be. You need to ask.

Here's the slide deck presentation. Check out slides 15 and 16 for some key points.

Pybop Mobile Editing Best Practices Workshop from Shelly Bowen

‍We also talked about all the ways to convince your boss you need to go back and optimize your top 20-50 pages of content for mobile. It's a small investment for a huge payoff.

Have a mobile editing or content strategy question? Need help optimizing your content for the best user experience?  Would love to hear all about it.