“Starting April 21, we [at Google] will be expanding our use of mobile-friendliness as a ranking signal,” Google Webmaster Central has stated. This announcement of Google’s mobile-friendly algorithm update is just the next step in what some are calling “Google’s mobile revolution” and details how important it is to make sure your clients can find you on a mobile friendly website.
In fact, while Google is currently the largest mobile search provider in the world – and while it regularly rolls out various types of algorithm updates, the mobile-friendly algorithm update that will be coming in just a few weeks is expected to have big impacts, particularly on sites that Google does not deem to be mobile friendly.
The goal of this update, as Google Webmaster Central has noted is to make “it easier to get relevant, high quality search results that are optimized for [users’] devices.”
Taking a closer look at what’s to come, this blog series will point out some of the most important facts you should know about Google’s upcoming mobile-friendly algorithm update. While being aware of these facts may help you prepare for and benefit from this algorithm update, don’t hesitate to contact Epic Web Results for experienced help developing, optimizing and maintaining high-quality mobile and standard websites.
Google’s Mobile-Friendly Algorithm Update: Here’s What You Should Know
1 – The mobile-friendly update is expected to have more impact than other algo updates.
In fact, Google Webmaster Central has noted that the mobile-friendly algorithm update “will affect mobile searches in all languages worldwide and will have a significant impact in our search results.”
Google doesn’t throw around the word “significant” often, so it’s noteworthy that this is how it has described the impending algorithm update. Given that Google has a stronghold on various applications of the mobile experience, many industry professionals are braced for the upcoming update to have more substantial and far-reaching repercussions than other prominent algorithm updates – including both Penguin and Panda.
Some have even gone so far as to suggest that the upcoming mobile-friendly update may end up dropping non-optimized pages on mobile and standard sites from rankings.
2 – The algorithm will assess mobile compatibility on a page-by-page basis.
Instead of evaluating “mobile friendliness” on a site-wide basis, the algorithm update will analyze sites page by page. This essentially means that:
- Properly optimized pages on mobile friendly sites will likely be favored and promoted by the algorithm.
- Non-optimized pages will not be promoted, though they likely won’t receive penalties either.
- If a mobile site is not well designed, having a substantial number of non-optimized pages will likely hurt the site.
- If the mobile site is well designed and has a decent number of optimized pages, having a few non-optimized pages may not cause too much of a problem (if any) for the site.
3 – The mobile algorithm will run in “real-time.”
This is a significant component of the upcoming Google mobile-friendly algorithm update, as it indicates that, if you make changes to your mobile site after the update is rolled out on April 21st, those changes should be identified by Google on its next crawl of the site. In turn, this can mean that:
- Any negative impacts that the algo update has on mobile sites can be addressed and fairly promptly perceived by Google.
- If you only become aware of the issues with your mobile site after the update has impacted it, taking prompt action to rectify these issues can result in a correspondingly prompt recovery (relatively speaking when compared with the recovery times associated with other algo updates).
4 – The algorithm will factor app indexing into search results.
As Google Webmaster Central has explained, Google will “use information from indexed apps as a factor in ranking for signed-in users who have the app installed. As a result, we may now surface content from indexed apps more prominently in search.” While this aspect of the algorithm update has already been implemented to some degree by Google, it will become far more prominent when the algo update is rolled out on April 21st.
The intent of having this feature is likely to further solidify the link between mobile search and mobile application. To aid the indexing of apps, here’s what Google has recommended:
- Confirm your app’s official site.
- Deep link your app and provide the deep links (either on each page of the mobile site or in the sitemap)
- Fix any remaining errors plaguing the app/mobile site.
5 – Some ranking signals for desktop sites will still be applicable for mobile sites.
Ranking signals like page load times, for instance, will still continue to be important for both standard desktop and mobile sites. However, just how the algorithm update will treat these signals across standard versus mobile sites remains to be seen, and some industry experts have speculated that, with this upcoming mobile algorithm update (and the ones that may follow), Google will be testing out different algo signals that are device-specific.
Google’s Mobile-Friendly Algorithm Update: Here’s What You Can Do Now…
- Find out if your site is mobile friendly – If you aren’t sure if your site is mobile friendly, you can test it at Google’s mobile-friendly test page. Although this test is not flawless and may not point out every issue with a site, it can give you a useful gauge of your site’s mobile performance from Google’s perspective.
- Rectify any mobile usability issues your site has – Depending on the issues with your site, these fixes may be relatively easy – or they may require some in-depth work to get your site to be mobile friendly.
- Keep a close eye on your site’s metrics in the coming weeks – As April 21st approaches and after it passes, be sure to closely track your site’s performance to see if it ends up being impacted positively or negatively by the algorithm update.
- Contact us – Evaluating just what needs to be done to make a website mobile friendly often requires the discerning eye of experienced industry professionals like those at Epic Web Results. So, contact us today for a free site evaluation, as well as experienced help optimizing your site and implementing innovative, effective Internet marketing solutions for your business.
Effective Internet Marketing Solutions at Epic Web Results
Do you need to revamp your mobile or standard website? Or are you ready to build a new site for your business? If so, it’s time to contact the skilled industry professionals at Epic Web Results. To learn more about our customized, innovative Internet marketing solutions, call (800) 501-9724 or email us using the contact form on this page.
