Last month we told you about Google’s newest algorithm change that will negatively affect websites that are not mobile friendly. This week was the algorithm change, now being called “Mobilegeddon”. There are some very important details that you need to know about the update and how you can improve upon your site’s mobile friendliness even if you aren’t yet ready for Mobilegeddon to strike.

Test Your Site for Mobile Friendliness

Are you unsure as to whether your site is mobile friendly or not? Google will let you know and will also tell you what you need to work on to get your site in compliance. The elements that Google is looking for in order to qualify your website as mobile friendly is the text size, distance apart from links, the mobile viewport, and if content is wider than the screen. You shouldn’t be upset with Google if you lose rankings because Google’s aim with this algorithm update is to be able to deliver their users with a good search experience. If they know that their user in on a mobile device or tablet and they serve up results that include websites that user cannot properly view, it is not a good search experience.

The Silver Lining

There is a silver lining in all of this. Google is likely doing you a favor by forcing your hand. If your website is not mobile friendly, then you are likely losing customers and not converting well in any case. More than 60% of internet access is done on mobile – and that comes from a report from February of last year. For more than a year now, we have been advising our clients to get mobile friendly either by creating a mobile site in conjunction with a desktop site, or add a responsive design to your website so that it can auto-detect the size of the visitor’s device and automatically fit to the size screen they are using, whether it is a small smartphone or a large monitor and anywhere in between. This goes for all businesses with a website, even if you don’t sell anything online. The other good news is that this is not a penalty similar to the Penguin and Panda algorithm updates. So, if you are still in the process of redesigning or fixing the mobile friendly issues on your website, then once you do, a simple new crawl should get your site re-indexed. The other bit of good news is that if your website is not mobile friendly, you will only lose ranking for mobile searches and your results will still appear as normal for users that are searching on a desktop computer.

Mobile Friendly Tips

We have 4 tips for ensuring that your website performs well on mobile:

  1. Less is more. Simple designs do better on mobile and really for any size. Less clutter drives home the goal and gets your visitors to where you want them to be without getting distracted.
  2. Have a strong and clear call to action.
  3. Use social autofill automation and make sure that your checkout page and all forms are mobile-friendly as well.
  4. Create a responsive design that will last well into the future. Your new website design should consider improving usability factors in addition to mobile. It should be accessible by any size screen, large or small, and you should always consider the user experience from their point of view.

If you require further information or have any specific questions, don’t hesitate to give a member of the GoPromotional team a call on 0800 0148 970 or simply email us today.