Google Updates Site Rankings for Mobile-Friendly Websites
Hold on to your smartphone… Google has announced it will be making a change in their mobile search algorithm. Unlike updates made in the past, they have announced the exact date they intend to change their mobile organic SERP algorithm – April 21, 2015.
Cool, I’ve marked my calendar, but what does this change mean?
In simple terms, from Google themselves, on April 21 they “will be expanding our use of mobile-friendliness as a ranking signal.” This change “will have a significant impact in our search results.” Historically, mobile rankings for a website were tied to the ranking strength of the desktop site. With this update, that will no longer be the case.
Starting April 21, we can assume that mobile-friendly sites will see a substantial boost in search rankings, especially in situations where the competition has yet to make the investment in a mobile-friendly website. Although it is not yet confirmed, there is speculation that mobile-friendliness will soon have an impact on desktop rankings as well.
The good news is, if your website is responsively designed, your desktop and mobile pages are the same. As Google’s preferred method of serving content to mobile users, we can assume that responsive sites will be favored by Google in search results moving forward. If your site is not responsive, and getting there isn’t an option before April 21, it’s critical that you evaluate the mobile solution you have in place and address its weaknesses as soon as possible. Google has released a Mobile Friendly Testing Tool which will analyze a URL and report if the specific page has a mobile-friendly design.
Ultimately, Google’s goal is to provide their users with “the most relevant and timely results, no matter if the information lives on mobile-friendly web pages or apps.” We like that goal and want to make sure Google users are finding you and your brand.
Not sure whether your website is mobile-friendly or not? Test your website on Google’s mobile-friendly tester.