Is your website optimised suitably for use on mobile devices?
Up until now Google’s ranking factor for websites with a mobile usability has been ambiguous and limited as it has not been entirely clear which factors Google considers when calculating mobile rankings. As a result of this, a number of businesses have postponed or downright avoided optimising their websites for mobile devices.
If you are one of these businesses – now is the time for change! Google has recently revealed that they are working on a major algorithm affecting all mobile searches around the globe, this algorithm will transform the way mobile friendliness is determined.
All we do know about the update is that it will change the way Google evaluates a sites mobile‐friendliness, and it is reasonable to guess that if your website is not optimised for mobile, it could see a serious decrease in search visibility. After all, 60 percent of all Google searches are now performed on mobile devices, so it makes sense that Google wants to make the most of this traffic and ensure the best possible experience for its users. Members of Google’s Webmaster Trends team have said that this new algorithm will have a bigger impact on search rankings than both Panda and Penguin previously had.
Is your site already mobile friendly? If so, you won’t have much to worry about. But if you don’t already have a mobile strategy, here are a few things you can do to prepare before April 21st:
- Make sure the mobile version of your site is active and works well. Google doesn’t have a preference between responsive designs and separate hosted mobile version of your site, as long as the user has a positive, uninterrupted experience.
- Will Google’s mobile bots be able to crawl your site? It’s important to make sure Google can see it; otherwise it may as well not even be there.
- Double check every single page of the site – just because the home page works well and is easy to navigate, doesn’t mean the other pages work so well.
If you’re not sure, there are some tools offered by Google which will help you check whether your site is mobile‐friendly or not. Firstly, you can check out Google’s Mobile‐Friendly test which checks whether your site meets the initial qualifications.
Google’s Webmaster Tools also offers you a Mobile Usability Report which you can run to examine your website exactly as Google sees it – giving you the chance to rectify any discrepancies before Google’s new algorithm sees them.
If you don’t have a fully functioning mobile version of your site in place by April 21st your search visibility could face a major setback, so it’s up to you to sort it out before it’s too late.
