Google Algorithm Change Is The Official Dawn Of Mobile Friendly Era

The waves of technological change have pointed towards mobile friendly websites for quite some time now and finally, Google are about to make it official with a new algorithmic change on 21 April. Research shows that over 60% of Internet usage occurs on mobile devices such as Tablets and Smartphones so businesses that didn’t have their website optimised for mobile users were already missing out. The new update benefits mobile friendly websites and is a ‘yes or no’ change; in other words, there are no ‘degrees’ of mobile friendliness.

How It Affects You
It will have an even greater impact than the Panda and Penguin updates which caused major disruption when they were implemented. The update will be on a page-by-page basis and updated in real time. This basically means that your site will be upgraded to ‘mobile friendly’ as soon as Google crawls the pages and finds you have optimised your site for mobile users.

There are approximately 200 factors taken into account when determining ranking so we can’t list them all here but Google did state that things such as small font size, readable content, viewpoint and whether links to your buttons are too close together are all considered.

This is a major part of Google’s drive to make Internet browsing mobile friendly. The search engine giant is also creating ranking changes based on information derived from the indexed apps of signed-in users. This has a significant impact on the type of search results displayed and how they are displayed. It is likely that future search results will focus on mobile tools such as apps.

Benefits
The obvious benefit is that you will have an advantage over rivals that have not yet joined the mobile revolution. Aside from almost certainly improving your Google search ranking both locally and nationally, here are a few more advantages of having a mobile friendly website:

? Speed: You end up with faster download speeds which mean happy browsers who are more likely to stay on your website.
? Engagement: Mobile specific functions such as mapping and click-to-call make it easier than ever for customers to get in touch and make an inquiry or purchase.
? Brand Identity: A mobile website ensures you stand out as a company that is up to date with technological advances.
? More Advertising Opportunities: Companies that advertise on PPC networks will find that their ads probably appear in mobile listings already.
What To Do
You can click here to find out whether your website is mobile friendly or not. If you don’t have a mobile strategy in place, follow these steps:
? Make sure the mobile version of your site is functional. You can have a separate mobile website but responsive design solves a lot of problems.
? Ensure the mobile bots of Google can crawl your site or else it is practically invisible in the search engine’s eyes.
? Check every single page of your site on a mobile device to see if they are all navigable. It is possible for the rest of your site to have problems even if the home page is mobile friendly.

Here is what Mobile Responsive means, watch how we resized our website in the video below and as we resized the website, it responds and changes the format so it’s still readable.

Here is the screenshot of your view on Desktop vs Mobile

DESKTOP VERSION

MOBILE VERSION

The deadline is fast approaching and if you are not mobile friendly by 21 April, you will plummet down the search engine rankings. If you are unsure as to what you should do, get in touch with Red & Black Solutions. Our team of experts will rapidly bring your website up to speed and make sure your online business is not negatively affected by the latest Google algorithm change.