The World (and Google) is Going Mobile Crazy

If you follow the digital news you’ll already know that Google has very much taken a “mobile-first” stance recently. But do you know why this is happening, and what it means for your business?

A bit of history

Back in 2015 mobile searches on Google overtook desktop searches for the first time, putting into numbers what many already suspected (see the announcement on Search Engine Land).

Around the same time, Google launched a new mobile algorithm update aimed at promoting mobile-friendly sites in the search results pages for mobile searches. Named “Mobilegeddon”, this update was meant to have a strong impact on SEO performance for non mobile friendly sites by demoting them from top ranking positions. The effects of this algorithm update were in practice not as strong as initially thought. Learn more with our Mobilegeddon post.

Earlier this month, mobile internet use passed desktop use for the first time ever, marking another milestone. read more about this on TechCrunch.

What happens next?

As a result of this mobile frenzy, Google has decided to take a “mobile-first” approach, and this will translate by the following changes in the coming months:

• The main Google search index will be split between mobile and desktop, giving priority to mobile and reducing visibility even further for non mobile friendly sites
• Google has now rolled out an experiment for mobile-indexing, so we can expect this to fully rollout in the next 6 months or so (if not before!)
• In addition to a mobile friendly / responsive design, the mobile algorithm will look at page speed as a key ranking factor. This simply means that even if your website displays well on mobile devices, slow speed could severely limit your SEO performance

All these changes are very much in line with Google’s quality and relevance policies for its users and are without doubt where SEO is heading for the foreseeable future.

Is your website mobile friendly?

In order to make your life a little bit easier when it comes to understanding how mobile-friendly your business is, Google kindly provides a free testing tool, so don’t wait and check your website today:

https://testmysite.thinkwithgoogle.com/ 

Things to think about

Now that you know where your website stands when it comes to mobile, here are the things to consider to ensure you grow your search presence in the future:

• Ensure your website displays well on all mobile devices (mobile, tablets). Use a responsive design, a dedicated mobile site or any other solution that guarantees good mobile compatibility, this is critical
• If your website speed is slow for mobile users, speak to your developer (or us!) to find out how to improve performance
• Look into Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP). AMP is a project started by Google and Twitter and designed to make really fast mobile pages. At its essence, it’s basically a stripped-down form of HTML
• Test, test, test – check that the user experience on mobile devices is as good as on desktop. Is usability good, can users navigate easily, are you getting good conversion levels?

We’ve already helped a lot of our clients with their mobile SEO and overall mobile strategy, so get in touch with us today to find out how we could support you or call 01920 455 033