Like them, or hate them Google is a search engine mogul and they recently changed their search algorithm to favor mobile ready sites.
The change will only impact smartphone searches but since mobile searches make up about 50% of all Google searches, this will affect everyone. While big businesses may struggle to get changes made quickly due to red tape, small businesses tend to be more flexible and can make changes on the fly.
Coined “Mobilegeddon” the new algorithm requires mobile sites to:
- Load quickly
- Adjust to a smaller screen
- Be easy to read
If your site does not comply it will rank lower.
The update was announced two months early to allow businesses to comply with these requirements, however many businesses just weren’t equipped to make this change and some older sites require a complete overhaul. Google controls two-thirds of the US search market and each time codes change businesses need to change. Unsure if your site was/is mobile ready, Google released a “mobile-ready” test.
After you run your test, prepare to tweak your site. The one saving grace that Google gave is that changes can occur at any time and, once amended, your site will begin to recoup its lost rankings. If you’re up for working in your own site Google offers a developers guide to best practices for mobile ready sites. IT Companies are taking on the challenge for those that aren’t staffed and Future Link IT is working in the Fox Valley / Elgin area to ensure businesses are ready.
Additionally, there are still other factors in Google’s algorithms that will affect search results. The company’s goal is still to provide the most relevant results to the end user, not to penalize business.
Google said “users will find it easier to get relevant, high quality search results that are optimized for their devices.”
In addition to websites, the new codes will affect mobile apps. This will only impact signed-in users who have the app installed on their mobile devices – which inherently means only Android apps will be affected right now.
This change seems obvious given that users are more readily searching while on the go. Google has the end user in mind, but the change will impact your search results – exactly what changes will show are yet to be observed as businesses quickly adapt to the new algorithm.
According to John Rampton, contributing writer at Forbes.com, “Stats show just how much business is done via smartphones these days so rather than a headache, this particular algorithm change should be seen as helping businesses focus on ways to achieve growth in areas that, until now, might otherwise have been ignored.”