In a rare move by Google’s search team, an announcement about a major algorithm change was made in advance of the update. Google first warned of the impending April 21st update in February, giving webmasters about two months to upgrade their websites to better serve mobile users.
Many businesses took the warning seriously, with Google reporting a 4.7% increase in mobile-friendly websites in March and April. Companies that did not heed the warning likely saw an immediate impact on their mobile organic search rankings on April 21st.
More Mobile Updates to Come
If you didn’t optimize your website in time for the April 21st algorithm update, don’t abandon the mobile effort! Mobile optimization is still as important as ever – and may be more so in the near future. Many search marketing experts speculate that within the next year or so, mobile-friendliness will become a ranking factor in the desktop algorithm as well.
What Does Mobile Have To Do With Desktop Search?
Google knows that today’s typical web searcher switches frequently between desktop, tablet, and mobile devices depending on the time of day, location, search intent, and other factors. Google has made other changes in the past – such as alterations to SERP appearance and the 2014 desertion of Authorship photos – to provide a seamless transition between devices.
Google wants all users to have a cohesive search experience regardless of device. For example, say you initially find a website via organic Google search on your laptop and want to reference the same site later on your phone. When you navigate to the site from your phone, you find that the site is not mobile-friendly. It’s too hard to navigate the page, read the text, and find the information you’re looking for. You abandon the website and are forced to begin your search again.
This is the exact type of situation Google aims to avoid by integrating mobile-friendliness into the desktop algorithm.
Is Your Site Mobile-Friendly?
If you haven’t yet checked your website’s mobile-friendliness, do so now using Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test. This free tool will tell you how Googlebot sees your website, list issues affecting your site on mobile devices, and provide resources for creating a mobile-friendly experience.
Even if Google deems your site mobile-friendly, be sure to address any issues flagged in the test, as these could trigger the algorithm and affect your rankings.
Remember that mobile-friendliness is determined on a page-by-page basis. So even if Google labels your homepage as mobile-friendly, you’re not out of the woods yet. Run your other key webpages through the tool to ensure your site visitors will have a great mobile experience as they browse your site. Key pages to check include your main products/services pages, contact page, resource pages, and any landing pages you’re using in marketing campaigns.
Still Not Convinced?
Mobile growth is not slowing down. ComScore reports that digital media consumption over the past four years has grown more rapidly on smartphones (394%) and tablets (1,721%) compared to desktop (37%).
Other reasons to adopt mobile-friendly responsive web design are to boost usability and user satisfaction on all device types, eliminate the need to manage separate desktop and mobile sites, and increase mobile and tablet conversions (a point not to be overlooked, given that 9 out of 10 smartphone searches end in an action).
Mobile-friendly web design will not only satisfy your mobile users today, but will also position your website for organic search engine success down the road. Contact us today for a quote to upgrade your website to a search engine optimized responsive design theme that will convert users from all devices. Call 877-887-7611 to speak with one of our design and marketing experts.
