IMPORTANT CHANGES IN GOOGLE’S SEARCH RESULT ALGORITHM
04 May 2015
Do not let your website be at risk and be mobile-friendly
Have you ever searched for information on Google Search using your mobile phone and found yourself lost because the text of the pages were too small, the links tiny and close to each other that it was hard to tap anything? A possible reason for this is that the website was not optimized for mobile devices. On the 21st of April of 2015, Google launched their “mobile-friendly” algorithm update, in order to help all the frustrated users.
Google wants to help users find what they are searching for by adding a “mobile-friendly” label to mobile search results that meet the criteria. It is the first step in improving mobile user’s experience, however, Google admits that experiments are being run to use the mobile-friendly label as a ranking criteria.
What does it mean for the companies?
Firstly, a large number of websites are at risk because of the update to Google’s search result algorithm unless they become more mobile-friendly. It has been speculated that a number of websites of well-known brands are at risk, such as the official website for the European Union, Windows Phone, Versace, Ryanair, Danone or The Daily Mail. However, this could be a major opportunity for companies who react fast, as by having a mobile-friendly site could mean higher rankings in search results which could provide an advantage over their competitors. It is predicted that the impact of this update will be greater than the previous ones - Panda and Penguin, although the success of your website depends solely on whether you seize this opportunity or let it pass you by.
What to do to avoid negative consequences and seize this opportunity?
Firstly, you need to understand that the consequences could be meaningful. As mentioned before, to prevent your site from being at risk you website needs to be mobile-friendly. But what does this actually mean? First of all, websites need to contain large text and easy-to-click links. They also need to have a responsive design, meaning that the web page URL remains the same, no matter if it is opened on a desktop or a mobile device, but the site responds according to the size of the screen, increasing user satisfaction.
How to check if your website is mobile friendly?
Google provides a free tool to check whether a particular website is mobile-friendly or not. You simply need to type your website address and wait a few seconds to get the result.
How to improve a website to be “mobile-friendly”?
Googlebot specifies the following criteria, which should be done for a page to be eligible for the new “mobile-friendly” label:
- Contain text readable without zooming,
- Place links far enough from each other for the correct one to be easily tapped,
- Size all the content to the screen of a specific user, so that there is no need to zoom or scroll horizontally,
- Limit software like Flash, which is not common on mobile devices.
What to do to get a “mobile-friendly” label?
After checking your page’s status with the mobile-friendly test, read how to create and improve your mobile website prepared by Google Webmaster Mobile Guide and try to see the mobile usability report in your Google Webmaster Tools. You will find the major mobile usability issues across your entire website. Also remember to customize your website software and implement the best mobile SEO practices advised by Google.
Google's “mobile-friendly” algorithm update is an indication of how important mobile searches are and will be in the near future. The incorporation of being “mobile-friendly’ as a ranking criteria for websites should separate those who proactively opt to be mobile-friendly versus those who do not see the benefit and power of their mobile presence on search engine result pages. This may mean that it will be easier for the right results to be found in the right place and at the right time.
Do you have any questions?
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