Google Search Console "Text too small to read" Errors
-
What are the guidelines / best practices for clearing these errors?
Google has some pretty vague documentation on how to handle this sort of error.
User behavior metrics in GA are pretty much in line with desktop usage and don't show anything concerning
Any input is appreciated!
Thanks
-
Hard to tell what to do without seeing specifically where this error is coming up, but it usually has something to do with font sizes being too small on mobile devices. Mobiles have much more densely packed pixels on their screens (images are sharper, the pixels are smaller and more numerous). This means that 12 pixels (font-size) on desktop can look like 5 or 6 pixels on mobile devices (or even smaller)
This is why, with responsive design, many people don't specify a pixel-based font-size. They'll make the font size relative (rather than absolute) somehow, be that by calculating pixel width against screen width as some percentage, or by working with newer font-sizing specifications (there are many, and many ways to use them). It's all about inflating font-sizes on devices with more densely packed pixel screens, so that the fonts don't come out looking minuscule
Sometimes you can get errors where, even though the site's design is responsive, as someone was writing text in the CMS text editor - it appended styling info including the px font-size, which is then inlined (overruling all your perfectly thought out font-sizing CSS rules)
If it's not mobile related at all, it's likely that the font is just generally too small
-
Hi Ben,
Have you tried increasing the font size? It may sound daft but normally the obvious is the simple answer.
Most CMS have an easy option to change the font size across the whole website and you can test it to make sure it does not have an adverse effect on larger screens.
The other point that springs to mind is to make sure you don't have any really small text on the page, check your footer for one, but also if the domain has spammy text hidden with really small text size that won't help.
It might help if you could share the text size you are using if none o the above help.
Steve
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
How to use Google search console's 'Name change' tool?
Hi There, I'm having trouble performing a 'Name change' for a new website (rebrand and domain change) in Google Search console. Because the 301 redirects are in place (a requirement of the name change tool), Google can no longer verify the site, which means I can't complete the name change? To me, step two (301 redirect) conflicts with step there (site verification) - or is there a way to perform a 301 redirect and have the tool verify the old site? Any pointers in the right direction would be much appreciated. Cheers Ben
Technical SEO | | cmscss0 -
404 or rel="canonical" for empty search results?
We have search on our site, using the URL, so we might have: example.com/location-1/service-1, or example.com/location-2/service-2. Since we're a directory we want these pages to rank. Sometimes, there are no search results for a particular location/service combo, and when that happens we show an advanced search form that lets the user choose another location, or expand the search area, or otherwise help themselves. However, that search form still appears at the URL example.com/location/service - so there are several location/service combos on our website that show that particular form, leading to duplicate content issues. We may have search results to display on these pages in the future, so we want to keep them around, and would like Google to look at them and even index them if that happens, so what's the best option here? Should we rel="canonical" the page to the example.com/search (where the search form usually resides)? Should we serve the search form page with an HTTP 404 header? Something else? I look forward to the discussion.
Technical SEO | | 4RS_John1 -
Google Webmaster Structured Data Error
In google webmaster tool in Structured data it is showing me 396 items with errors i.e. Data Type - Product, Source - Markup:schema.org, Pages -351, Items -351, Items with Errors - 351 When i click on the 351 in that it is showing Missing:Price but when i click on that product i can see the price 2) Data Type - searchresultspage, Source - Markup:schema.org, Pages- 47, Items - 47 Items with errors -45 When i click on the 47 in that it is showing Missing:Price but when i click on that product i can see the price So i am not getting what is the actual error?
Technical SEO | | jackinmathis10 -
When do you use 'Fetch as a Google'' on Google Webmaster?
Hi, I was wondering when and how often do you use 'Fetch as a Google'' on Google Webmaster and do you submit individual pages or main URL only? I've googled it but i got confused more. I appreciate if you could help. Thanks
Technical SEO | | Rubix1 -
How to remove my cdn sub domins on Google search result?
A few months ago I moved all my Wordpress images into a sub domain. After I purchased CDN service, I again moved that images to my root domain. I added User-agent: * Disallow: / to my CDN domain. But now, when I perform site search on the Google, I found that my CDN sub domains are indexed by the Google. I think this will make duplicate content issue. I already hit by the Panguin. How do I remove these search results on Google? Should I add my cdn domain to webmaster tools to request URL removal request? Problem is, If I use cdn.mydomain.com it shows my www.mydomain.com. My blog:- http://goo.gl/58Utt site search result:- http://goo.gl/ElNwc
Technical SEO | | Godad1 -
How to get found on local google search?
Hey When look for particular local businesses on Google like "Manchester Hotels" for example; at the top of Google page come all business up that are marked on the city map (with A,B,C..), then all the others follow. So my question is: "How can I get my business on that map?". Thank you! Ve
Technical SEO | | MissVe0 -
Why is an error page showing when searching our website using Google "site:" search function?
When I search our company website using the Google site search function "site:jwsuretybonds.com", a 400 Bad Request page is at the top of the listed pages. I had someone else at our company do the same site search and the 400 Bad Request did not appear. Is there a reason this is happening, and are there any ramifications to it?
Technical SEO | | TheDude0 -
Google Webmaster tools error?
So I am trying to set the URL preference in google webmaster tools for my site. However when I try to save it it tells me to verify that I own the site. I have already done this so where can I go to verify I own the site exactly? Maybe I am wrong and I have not done this already but even on the homepage of webmaster tools I don't see an option to "verify".
Technical SEO | | ENSO0