Undoubtedly you heard a number of places mention Google’s #Mobilegeddon this month. More precisely called Google’s Mobile-Friendly Update. The algorithm change was expected to radically shift the rankings of webpages within mobile search results. Some expected the update to create a feast or famine scenario for mobile website traffic, but what really happened in the aftermath of #Mobilegeddon?
What is Mobile-Friendly?
Mobile-friendly means users will have a good user experience when browsing through websites on a mobile device. How do you build a good user experience? By having website content display in a way that is easy to view and navigate on a mobile device, such as a smart phone and tablet device, without the need to pinch or zoom on a webpage.
If you’re curious whether some of your key pages pass the mobile-friendly test, Google has provided a testing tool. Here are some of the things Google searches for when testing to see if a website is mobile-friendly.
Photo Credit: Google Developers: Why make a website mobile-friendly?
The desktop version of a site might be difficult to view and use on a mobile device. The version that’s not mobile-friendly requires the user to pinch or zoom in order to read the content. Users find this a frustrating experience and are likely to abandon the site. Alternatively, the mobile-friendly version is readable and immediately usable.
Websites Are Not Mobile-Friendly If:
Text is too small to read. To fix this, use legible font sizes.
Links are too close together. To fix this, size tap targets appropriately.
Mobile viewport is not set To fix this, configure the viewport.
Content wider than screen To fix this, size the page content to the viewport.
The testing tool will help you ensure your website is mobile-friendly.
What is The impact On Mobile Search results in the aftermath of #Mobilegeddon?
“We’re boosting the ranking of mobile-friendly [website] pages on mobile search results” Google stated. On April 21st, Google started rolling out the “mobile-friendly” update and they echoed the intent of the update very clearly. On May 1st, Google confirmed that the update was fully rolled-out to all data centers.
Well, it wasn’t the feast or famine scenario that some had anticipated. The aftermath of #Mobilegeddon was more subtle. Ten days after the update, many webmasters and SEO (Search Engine Optimization) professionals saw minimal changes in their mobile search rankings or mobile website visitors.
Being Mobile-Friendly is still important
Even if #Mobilegeddon didn’t make as big of a splash as anticipated, it’s still important to focus on a mobile friendly website.
Photo Credit: Google Mobile Ads Blog: Mobile Friendly Sites Turn Visitors Into Customers
Not having a mobile-friendly website will increase the chances of people having a bad user experience on the website. This, in turn, will increase the chance of losing potential customers just because the website was not mobile friendly.
Resources:
Google Developers: Why make a website mobile-friendly?
Google Mobile Ads Blog: Mobile-friendly sites turn visitors into customers
Bio:
Tak Lay is the Director of the U-Haul Self-Storage Affiliate Network. As a technology junkie, he is always trying to find new or alternate methods of using technology to make his job easier.