Has Your Website Been Upgraded To Meet Google’s “Mobile Friendly” Requirements?

Earlier this year Google made a major announcement that could be affecting your website rankings.

“Starting April 21, 2015, we (Google) will be expanding our use of mobile-friendliness as a ranking signal. This change will affect mobile searches in all languages worldwide and will have a significant impact in our search results. Consequently, users will find it easier to get relevant, high quality search results that are optimized for their devices.”

What does it mean when they refer to “ranking signal”? Search engines use hundreds of metrics to determine your rank and one of them will now be the “mobile-friendliness” of your website. Is your site easy to read on small mobile devices or do users click away because it’s too hard to navigate? Does your site scale to fit all screen sizes or just display a small version of your desktop site? If your website is deemed not mobile-friendly, you will be experiencing a drop in mobile traffic as you’re are pushed down in rank.  If you are running a mobile-friendly site, then you will benefit by being included in Googles mobile search results and your users will have a much better user experience because they can easily locate and find the information they are looking for.

Mobile use continues to climb and the search engines are taking notice. StatCounter reported a 67% increase in mobile users in 2014 alone. Now is the time to “future proof” your sites to ensure that they are delivering a great experience to mobile users and that you are not being penalized for having an outdated site.

How do I know if my site is mobile-friendly?

Google has created a simple tool that evaluates your site and lets you know if your site qualifies as mobile-friendly. This test takes just moments to complete, click here to test your site and see your results.

What steps should I take to become mobile-friendly?

If you get a negative score on the mobile-friendly test, then it’s time to look closely at how people are using your site on mobile devices. Check your analytics to see if mobile devices have a higher bounce rate on certain pages. This could help indicate where people are having difficulty. If you do not have the technical expertise to correct these problems, we highly recommend working with a development team that understands responsive website design and development. We’ve helped many of our clients create mobile friendly sites, such as Dude’s Construction, and many others.

What is responsive web design?

Responsive web design is one of the best options for creating a website that looks great on all devices. Responsive design has a fluid grid layout that expands and contracts based on the size of the screen giving readers the ultimate viewing experience. No need for a separate mobile website. A good responsive design lets you edit a single site and have confidence that everyone can use your site without difficulty.

Want an example of good responsive designs? Click here to view some award winning site designs that respond beautifully. Open each site and drag the width of your browser window down to see how the site reacts to various sizes.

For more information on responsive design, or to have us suggest some recommendations on making your site mobile-friendly, contact the Apache Interactive team today.