What is it and what does it mean for my business’s website?
On April 21st 2015, Google are rolling out their latest rankings algorithm change. This time it’s main effect will be felt by any website owners who have not made their website mobile-friendly (mobile responsive).
Considering that smartphone web searches have almost overtaken traditional desktop searches, I’m surprised that this had not already been considered as major factor in a site’s ranking. Perhaps it has been to some extent but for now however Google are confirming that your site will be penalised for not having a mobile optimised website.
If you’re currently receiving say approx. 40% of traffic to your site from mobile devices then this is traffic that could disappear or certainly diminish if your site is not correctly set up to be mobile-friendly.
How do I know if my website is mobile-friendly or not?
Your website should resize to different device screen sizes automatically i.e. there should be no need to pinch or zoom if viewing on a mobile or tablet. If your website does this there’s a good chance it is mobile-friendly already, however there are two really quick tests that will confirm this for you and whether it passes Google’s idea of “mobile-friendly” or not:
Test 1
First take the Google mobile-friendly test here: Google Mobile-Friendly Test
Test 2
If you pass that test, you will want to make double sure everything is mobile-friendly. We would advise Googling your own site on a mobile device. You shou