Google’s Mobile update means major changes
On April 21st, Google released the most recent major update for organic search results (SEO), an update to its algorithm that will reward mobile friendly pages. It is said to be the biggest update since the Panda or Penguin and if you believe some sources on Google, it’s an update that will affect the search results more than its predecessors. The update is aptly named “Mobilegeddon” and will pose a great challenge for the players who have not yet acquired a mobile friendly page.
But how do you know that you have a page that Google considers to be mobile friendly? There are several parts that will record and just to one side have responsive design that does not automatically mean that the page will be rewarded. The distance between text and buttons, scanning speed, and that Google can read CSS and JavaScript are examples of what will affect. Nor should we think that you are safe just because the home page is a mobile adapted without it page by page that counts, not the whole site.
Better results for mobile search
The update comes as no surprise. Google’s mission is to create a relevant and good search results for the user and a page that is not mobile friendly is usually not a good experience on the phone’s display screen. Google also went out early and announced that the update would come and has been clear what it means. This is not always obvious when many of the updates in the algorithm is not notified, but are things that just happen.
The reason that Google goes out so clearly with this update is that the mobile traffic has grown tremendously in recent years. They are now introducing this in their algorithm to speed up the process and get more players on the web to realize the importance of investing at ease from mobile. Mobile traffic will continue to grow and users will also begin to set higher standards.
The Google MobileGeddon algorithm assesses just individual pages. There is no summation over the whole site. In other words, your child pages may get the green flag as a mobile friendly even if you have a few pages on the site that can not be mobile customize for practical reasons.
This algorithm works in real time. For you this means that as soon as you have made your website mobile friendly Google will give the site additional search value in mobile searches.
(Note: This will occur after Google bot has had time to re-crawl your site first.)
How do I know if my website is mobile friendly?
Do a search in the phone so that your site appears in the search results. If you see the text “Mobile version” next, are you good at. You can also use a special tool from Google and be notified immediately if your side pass the test.
If you have linked your site to Google Webmasters Tools, you can get specific tips on things that you need to fix if the page should be classified as mobile friendly for Google MobileGeddon. The tips are available in a report for Search Engine Traffic -> Mobile Usability.
Test your site
You can start to test if your site is mobile adapted with Google’s mobile testing tools .
There, you can quickly and easily know if it is okay or you need to improve it.
Eek, My website isn’t mobile friendly! What do I do now?
You can usually keep your website it requires simply the mobile adapted. The most common ways to make a website mobile friendly are:
Make the site responsive
Google thinks you should choose responsive design when making technology choices for mobile kindness. A responsive design will adjust the website and graphic elements based on the user’s device so that the page fits the screen size.
Example: http://dreamcore.net
Not to toot my own horn, but yes this site is responsive and has been for many years now. 🙂 I’m a mobile junkie! Heck even most of this post is being written using my iPhone. :p
Making a mobile page
If having a responsive design is not an option you may need Internet a separate mobile specific website. This is simply copy of the site though in a smaller format to fit mobile devices. When working with a separate desktop and mobile site mobile you’re out will typically be m.your domain.com or mobile.your domain.com. This is an adequate alternate solution to be mobile friendly in Google’s eyes.
Example: https://mobile.twitter.com
Conclusion
If you are ready to lose your top page rankings to fall all the way to page 3 or worse – do not change anything. If you value your organic traffic, make the changes and make them quickly.
[tweetthis hidden_hashtags=”#SEO”]If you value your organic traffic, make these changes and make them quickly.[/tweetthis]Google’s desire is for visitors to have a great experience when they are on our websites. A mobile user won’t have a good experience trying to view a site on their mobile device if it is too large to properly view, glitchy elements that don’t work, poor loading etc. Many website owners have been lazy. In our poor attempt to put off the inevitable Google has stepped in by implementing an algorithm that forces us to get off our butts and update our sites for this new mobile generation. 🙂
Happy ‘MobileGeddon’ to all and to all a good night!
