Submitted by Florida Web Media on
Mobilegeddon is coming and it is inevitable! But don't worry!! It is not the end of the world. We've put together this blog to help you understand what Mobilegeddon is and how you can prepare your website to weather the storm. Instead of writing a long boring blog, we've broken it down to a Q&A format to answer few common questions regarding Mobilegeddon.
What is Mobilegeddon? When does Google's "mobile-friendliness" go into effect?
Google is going to implement "mobile-friendliness" in its search formula as ranking factor, effective Tuesday, April 21, 2015. For this reason, this deadline is called "MobileGeddon". Mobile-friendliness factor may have heavier weight over other ranking factors when displaying search results on mobile devices. As a result, sites that are not mobile optimized correctly may lose their current search rankings and appear lower in Google search results on smartphones and tablets. These sites may experience less traffic coming from Google search result page. On the other hand, sites that are already mobile-friendly will be more likely to show up at the top of search results.
What is a mobile-friendly website?
A mobile-friendly website (responsive website or adaptive website) scales itself to fit correctly on any mobile devices such as smartphones, iPhones, iPads, and tablets. It adapts to both vertical and horizontal screens, eliminates unnecessary zooming and panning of content, and is easy to read and view content. Moreover, a mobile-friendly website loads faster than a traditional desktop website and consumes less bandwidth.
Why does "mobile-friendliness" matter?
Mobile is critical to any business and will continue to be so due to the fact that, according to Google, "94% of people with smartphones search for local information on their phones. Interestingly, 77% of mobile searches occur at home or at work, places where desktop computers are likely to be present". Also, website visitors demand user friendly experience when they view a website using their mobile devices.
How will "mobile-friendliness" impact search results for your website?
If your website is mobile optimized for devices such as smartphones and tablets, it will more likely to appear higher than your competitors' non-optimized websites in search result page, even on desktops. Besides, your website will provide user friendly experience for your website visitors. As a result, they will stay longer on your website (meaning lower bounce rate) and more likely to respond to your "call-to-action".
Will there be a penalty for not having a mobile-friendly website (drop rankings in search results)?
No one knows for sure what impact it will have on traditional websites’ ranking until Google rolls out this new search algorithm on April 21st. However, Google mentioned in its blog that "this change will affect mobile searches in all languages worldwide and will have a significant impact" in its search results. For this reason, we can guess that the majority of the websites that are not optimized for mobile could see a significant drop in search ranking.
How do I know if my website is mobile-friendly?
First, go to Google's Mobile-Friendly Test page and have Google analyze your website. If your website passes the test, your website is mobile-friendly and no need to worry about it. However, if your website fails Mobile-Friendly Test, you need to take the steps recommended by Google. Google will also generate a real-time preview of your website on a mobile screen for you to see it. Keep in mind that having a mobile-friendly "home page" does not necessarily mean all pages of your website are mobile optimized. If you are not sure, have Google check each page of your website.
What if my website is not mobile-friendly?
If your website and web pages are not mobile-friendly, you should work with someone who knows how to convert your existing site to a mobile-friendly site. If you are not sure what to ask when hiring a web developer or an agency, visit this page and educate yourself.
How can I prepare my website for mobile-friendliness?
A good starting point would be to go to Google PageSpeed Insights and have Google analyze your web pages. Google will display the results as well as suggest what actions need to be taken on your end to fix your website for mobile-friendliness.
How can I learn more about mobile-friendliness?
Visit Mobile Guide to learn more.
Still have more questions?
If you have more questions on how to build a mobile-friendly website or convert an existing website to a mobile-friendly website, feel free to contact Florida Web Media.