Writing for mobile readers: copy that works on a small screen

Key takeaways

Writing for mobile is not writing less. It is putting the answer first, in short blocks, under headings that say what each block contains. People read and understand content on phones as well as on computers. What they will not do is scroll through three screens of introduction to find out whether you can help.

• Comprehension on phones matches desktop, but readers slow down on hard text.
• A phone shows about 60 to 80 words per screen, so the first lines carry the page.
• Three lines on a laptop become seven or eight on a phone: keep paragraphs short.
• Keep the same content on mobile as desktop, and restructure it.

How do people read on phones?

People read on phones in short sessions, through a narrow window, scrolling steadily. Nielsen Norman Group's 2016 study of 1,629 reading tasks found no practical difference in comprehension between phones and computers. It did find that readers slowed down on difficult articles on a phone, taking longer per word.

So the small screen does not make people less able to understand. It makes complexity more costly. With only a few lines visible at a time, readers cannot glance back up the page for context, and they rely on the writing itself to keep them oriented.

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What should the first screen say?

The first screen should say what you do, for whom, and what to do next. On a phone that is one heading, one or two sentences and a button. It is the only part of the page every visitor sees, so it has to carry the whole message in miniature.

Lead each section the same way. State the point in the first sentence, then support it. A visitor who reads only the first line under each heading should still come away with the gist. GOV.UK's writing guidance calls this front-loading, and it is the single most useful habit for small screens.

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Which seven habits make copy work on mobile?

Seven habits cover most of it. None requires cutting substance. They change the order and the shape of what you already say.

• Answer first: open every section with the conclusion.
• Short paragraphs: two or three sentences, one idea each.
• Informative headings: 'What a boiler service costs', not 'Our approach'.
• Plain words: 'use' not 'utilise', 'about' not 'approximately'.
• Lists for steps and options: easier to scan than a dense paragraph.
• Numbers as digits with units: £95, 2 hours, 3 visits.
• Descriptive link text: 'See our prices', not 'click here'.

Should mobile pages have less text?

No. Google indexes the mobile version of your pages, and its guidance warns that a mobile page with less content than the desktop page can expect to lose some traffic. Cutting text for phones removes it from the version that is indexed.

Keep the content and change how it is delivered. Put the essential answer in view. Group supporting detail under clear headings, and collapse long reference material, such as a full specification or lengthy terms, into labelled sections. The reader chooses how deep to go, and nothing is lost to search.

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How should headings and buttons be worded?

Word headings as the questions customers ask or as plain statements of what follows. On a phone, headings are the map: a visitor flicks down the page reading only those until one matches their need. Vague headings such as 'Solutions' or 'Why us' give them nothing to stop for.

Word buttons as the action and its outcome: 'Get a quote by WhatsApp', 'Book a 30-minute call', 'See today's menu'. Short enough to fit on one line at 16px, specific enough that the visitor knows what happens when they tap.

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What are the trade-offs?

Brevity can strip out proof. A page cut to slogans reads quickly and convinces nobody. Buyers of considered services want detail: process, prices, examples, guarantees. The answer is structure, not deletion. Give the short version first and the full version beneath it.

Short paragraphs can also fragment an argument. If every sentence stands alone, the reasoning that connects them disappears. Keep sentences that belong together in the same paragraph, and use a list only when the items are genuinely parallel.

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What does this look like in practice?

A pattern we see on service pages: the page opens with two paragraphs about the company's history and values. On a laptop, the services and a contact button are visible alongside. On a phone, those two paragraphs fill the first two screens, and a visitor has to scroll past them to learn what the firm actually does.

Moving one sentence, 'We service and repair gas boilers across Leeds, usually within 48 hours', to the top, with a Call button under it, changes what every mobile visitor sees first. The history stays, further down. Global Bridge Labs (GBL) edits copy on a phone preview for this reason: the order of information is a mobile design decision.

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Mobile copy checklist

• Read your top pages on a phone, not in a document.
• Check the first screen says what, for whom and what next.
• Open each section with its main point.
• Break any paragraph longer than three sentences.
• Rewrite vague headings as questions or plain statements.
• Replace 'click here' with descriptive link and button text.
• Keep all content on mobile, collapsing only reference detail.

Next step

Open your most important page on a phone and read only the first screen and the headings. If a stranger could not tell what you offer and how to get it, start the rewrite there.