If you don’t know by now Google announced recently that today – April 21, 2015 – is an important day for webmasters. SEO specialists and online marketers are calling it ‘Mobilegeddon.’ This is because starting today Google is beginning the roll out of a major change to their search algorithm which willl benefit sites which are optimised for mobile. This decision is undoubtedly inspired by the recent growth in mobile search queries, as reported by comScore.
The prioritising of mobile sites is one part of the larger ongoing changes to Google’s algorithm. Google will also be improving the relevance of the app content that comes up in search results, especially when the user already has the app concerned installed.
How can you make sure your site is mobile-friendly?
Google are doing their best to help website owners and designers of all levels of expertise to adapt their sites for the new algorithm. They explained the changes in a post on the Google Webmaster Central Blog, have provided a guide to optimising websites for mobile users, and they have set up a page where you can check if your site is what they call “mobile-friendly.” Google say that the reason for the changes is that, “as more people use mobile devices to access the internet, our algorithms have to adapt to these usage patterns.”
What could happen to my site if I don’t make it mobile-friendly?
There are several different methods Google uses to rank search results. Mobile-friendliness is a factor which is already taken into consideration by Google’s search algorithms, but will become more important from today onwards. Therefore, sites which are optimised for mobile users could move up to a more prominent position in search results, and sites which are not may move down. This could effect the traffic a website receives, especially for those sites which rely mainly on traffic from search engines, as opposed to visitors from links on other websites or social media.
Although some webmasters may be concerned about how the new algorithm will rank their site against others, the good news is that Google have been very open about their planned changes and done their best to offer guidance on how to prepare.
If I make my site mobile-friendly will my SEO automatically improve?
It’s very important to remember that successful SEO does not just depend on the whims of one search engine or one algorithm change, and websites should be optimised for maximum exposure and prominence across the web, not just on Google and not just in terms of mobile-friendliness. There are many other important factors that affect the SEO of your website.
AWD can help you assess both the mobile-friendliness of your website and your overall SEO. Call us today on 1300 855 651 for a free consultation.