Google Mobile Algorithm: Are You Ready For the Mobile Apocalypse
Picture this. You’ve worked incredibly hard on designing an SEO optimized website that ranks well on the Google search engine, when a bomb is dropped. As of April 21, Google will be updating their mobile algorithm search. You now realize that you’ve never made it a priority to design a mobile friendly website, and you’re scrambling to figure out what to do so that your website does not become victim to the mobile apocalypse. But not to worry, we’ve got you covered. Read on to discover tips how to prepare for Google mobile algorithm search update. Why Is Google Doing This? Many people don’t realize that their websites create a really bad mobile user experience when it isn’t optimized effectively. Everything from blocked JavaScript, to faulty redirects, to lagging mobile pages, can all contribute to a bad mobile experience. Google is attempting to level the playing field, by providing the most diverse search results as possible. In Layman’s terms, the announcement simply means that Google is going to be making websites appear more mobile-‐friendly for those searching online. Is It Necessary? Some have noticed that in the past, when Google made updates to its algorithm, they didn’t see much change in their rankings. Entreprenuer.com states that more than 60% of all Google searches are performed from mobile devices. So this update seems necessary and timely. While it is not yet clear what the impact will be, it’s best to stay ahead of the curve, and make the changes needed, so that you don’t risk a website ranking low, that is already in good standing. How Soon Should You Do This? How soon you should do this really depends on how many visitors you get each month. You can easily find this information by looking at your site analytics. To avoid any risk, the sooner the better. What You Can Do to Prepare STEP ONE: Check To See If It’s Mobile Friendly The first thing you must do is determine if you have a mobile friendly site to begin with. You want to systemically go through and check each individual page, and not just the home page alone. Fortunately, Google, has a tool that you can use called the Mobile Friendly Test where you can insert your web page URL. Google will analyze
the results immediately and let you know if your site is mobile friendly. If it isn’t, it will tell you why. Here are possible reasons as to why it may not make the cut. • Text is too small • Mobile viewpoint not set • Mobile pages are slow • Content doesn’t play • Content is wider than the screen In addition to Google’s Mobile Friendly Tool, you can use Google’s Webmaster Tool to identify other usability issues directly related to mobile functioning. This tool will observe the following: • Content that isn’t sized properly. • How your flash is used. • Elements that are too close together. • Pages Return soft-‐404s • Website isn’t crawled properly STEP TWO Fix Any Issues That Arise on Google’s Tool Features Once you’ve identified the source of any crawling issues, be sure to un-‐block and/or block them as needed. You should also take care not to link to non-‐existing pages. You can utilize additional tools such as Deep Crawl and Screaming Frog, to perform an even deeper crawl for your site. Since Google utilizes speed to determine mobile usability, you can implement Google’s Page Speed Insights, to check for speed issues that weren’t found by the Mobile Friendly Test. STEP THREE Check Your Marketing Grade While it’s obviously important to check your mobile readiness, you should also assess your website marketing. HubSpot’s Marketing Grader is an awesome tool that that, not only, allows you to check your website for mobile-‐friendliness, but it also allows you to check your marketing efforts as well. To begin your analysis, enter your website URL and email. From there, Marketing Grader will examine your site and give it a score between 1 and 100. The closer your score is 100, the better your site is. Your Marketing Grade will display your page as it appears from a mobile user’s standpoint, and it will also give you suggestions on how to improve your pages.
STEP FOUR Compare Yourself Against Competitors You should check the mobile website of your competitors. Why do you want to do this? You’re going to gather key information that will help your mobile website to rank well, and that is keywords. The best tools to use for this are SearchMetrics, Sistrix, or SEMrush. Not only do these sites provide vital keyword information, but they also allow you to see trends and mobile search volume. STEP FOUR Create a Website That’s Responsive While you can have a separate hosted mobile version of your site, responsive designs are best. Responsive website designs can adjust to fit the size of any device, whether it be a smartphone, tablet, desktop, or laptop. Whenever responsive designs are built, a number of factors are considered, like the location of menus and buttons, or image scale. Thus, overall, responsive designs are far superior in creating an enjoyable user experience. App Indexing Not only will your site benefit from Google’s mobile algorithm updates, but so will your apps. Google plans to ensure that all apps that are indexed will end up favorably in the search results. So if your app isn’t already indexed, you should think about including that, along with your website updates. Try to avoid using interstitials for your apps, but rather focus on a simple and clean banner instead, to help promote the app. The bottom line is, you should still be mobile-‐friendly, regardless if this update directly affects you or not, as we are in a new age. 2014 was the first year where mobile users exceeded desktop users. This information should not be easily ignored. At this rate, mobile users will continue to grow and grow. Therefore, you should make the changes necessary to ensure that your website visitors are having a great user experience. Don’t just think about the here and now, but really consider thinking about your future. The success of your website depends on it.