Google Notifies and Urges Marketers to Go Mobile-Friendly
Search Engine Optimization
We’ve heard it over and over again. When customers are searching for products and services, they’re browsing on mobile more than desktop devices. So it makes sense that if your website isn’t mobile friendly, you could be losing some business. Certainly, you could be losing rankings in Google mobile search results.
Actually, Google recently sent warnings to webmasters of sites that are not mobile-friendly. The emails were delivered through Google Webmaster Tools and listed which pages on the website have mobile usability errors. The notice further mentioned that those pages would be ranked lower for mobile users because they “will not be seen as mobile-friendly by Google Search”. An example of the notice can be seen below:
In November 2014, Google officially released “mobile-friendly” labels for websites listed in search results. Google has continued to update its mobile algorithm to favor mobile-optimized sites and it looks like there will be a brand new mobile algorithm to be released soon (no official release date yet). Websites that have not become mobile-friendly by the time of the release are likely to suffer from staggering search rankings.
Thanks to this paradigm shift, all businesses will have to make the initial investment to go mobile. A lot of time and thought goes into building a mobile website, especially a web responsive site, which requires strategic thinking about the user experience across multiple platforms such as desktop, mobile, and tablet. Taking the time to start now, rather than later, will save you time and money later down the road.
We recommend that all websites focus on a mobile strategy no matter the route you take. Whether it’s a web responsive site or a dedicated mobile site. Google is updating its algorithm whether you’re ready for it or not. And not doing anything at all will be the most costly option of all.