On April 21st 2015 Google changed how it ranks websites that are not mobile-friendly
6 quick things you need to know:
- Direct from the horse’s mouth:
“Starting April 21, we will be expanding our use of mobile-friendliness as a ranking signal. This change will affect mobile searches… and will have a significant impact in our search results.“ - Why is Google doing this? The top line: primarily to provide a better mobile experience for searchers and give people exactly what they want.
The bottom line: Everything Google does is to make more money. - Google says this change will not affect searches carried-out on desktop PCs – YET – but as statistics show the number of internet users on a mobile device is now up to around 40%-50%, this change will have a direct impact on where your website ranks for at least half the people searching for you.
- Is your website mobile-friendly? You can test your own website in Google’s ‘Mobile-friendly test’ tool here:
https://www.google.co.uk/webmasters/tools/mobile-friendly/ - What can you do if your website is not mobile friendly? Your existing non-mobile-friendly website cannot be magically transformed into a mobile friendly website – regardless of companies offering to do so for £75-£100.Time and tide wait for no man, in the same way Internet technology marches-on and waits for no business. At some point a new, fully ‘responsive’ (designed for mobiles) website will be your only option if being found in search engines is important to you.
- Nothing you hear or read about what Google is planning to do is true, until Google actually does it.
Ultimately, these changes will not have an immediate or dramatic effect on your website’s position in Google and you will not go from hero to zero overnight.
However, as there is now close to one billion websites all competing for the holy grail of top slot (or page one at least) in Google, it’s inevitable that we all have to keep up with the changes in technology that are designed to sift the wheat from the chaff in everyday search results.
Do you want to be wheat or chaff?
