Desktop Sites Still Necessary? NO, Says Google's Mueller

Previously I've talked about Google's algorithm changes to reward sites that are mobile friendly and to reduce the rankings of sites that aren't mobile friendly. The reality is that a huge percentage of people now surf the internet on mobile phones and devices (over half of Google's searches) and that percentage is only going to continue to rise.

How serious is Google about rewarding mobile friendly sites?

A few days ago Google's John Mueller was asked if you already have a site that's mobile friendly but NOT desk top friendly would it hurt your rankings for desktop searchings...

"I think what I'd try to make sure is that it still works on desktop and that it doesn't show an error on desktop, but rather someone on desktop can still access it," Mueller said. "What generally happens is, we will just include the mobile site in our search results, like any other site, and we will present it to desktop users."

Over the last few months, eMarketer has reported that mobile search surpassed desktop in 2014 with 66.5 million search queries, while cloud-based marketing solution IgnitionOne found that mobile search spend has increased 71 percent from last year.

"Mobile Only" Sites WILL Rank For Desktop Searches

Mueller also said if you "make sure that desktop users can still see some of your content, if it is formatted in a way that works best for mobile, that’s perfectly fine.” I think this answer gives some insights into how heavily skewed Google really is to making their searches mobile friendly. It's worth noting that while Mueller said marketers don't need desktop sites anymore, he didn't advise anyone NOT to build one.

 2 FREE --> "Mobile Friendly" Resources:

The message here is pretty clear that being mobile friendly is now vital if you want traffic from Google. And it's also important to be mobile friendly in Google's eyes.

If you haven't done it recently I suggest you check different pages on your site with Google's Mobile Friendly Tester here:

https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/mobile-friendly/

You can also go through Google's guidelines for making your site mobile friendly here:

https://developers.google.com/webmasters/mobile-sites/get-started/?hl=en

 For further information and a free "NO Hustle" examination of your current search and SEM status - Feel free to get in touch

Luv,

Mark b