Big News for Google Mobile Search Ranking

Have you noticed a decrease in your mobile website traffic recently? And if you haven’t checked your stats in a couple of weeks… go take a look-see! Google just finished rolling out the latest update to their mobile search-ranking algorithm, and your website might be affected, so listen up!

What are the changes?

When using Google from a smartphone or tablet, in an effort to return better search results with websites that are mobile-friendly, Google amended it’s algorithm to rank mobile responsive/adaptive sites higher than those that are not. The algorithm effects mobile search, not its desktop counterpart, and the whole idea is to position mobile-friendly sites higher in search results. With this algorithm change, Google places more emphasis on mobile-friendly sites than it previously did. Relevance and quality content is still a major player, but it’s no longer top dog for mobile.

How will you be affected?

If your site is already mobile-friendly, no worries, you shouldn’t see a change in your mobile Google search position or mobile website traffic. If your site is not adaptive or responsive, your search engine ranking will take a toll and your site will not be positioned as high in populated search results. AKA, your site will experience decreased mobile site traffic.

Why Mobile?

According the official Google Webmasters, “In the USA, 94% of people with smartphones search for local information on their phones. Interestingly, 77% of mobile searches occur at home or at work, places where desktop computers are likely to be present.”

These numbers are pretty telling. People are using their smartphones and tablets to search more than they are using their desktop computer, or other platforms. So as the times change, so does web design and web dev.

Next Steps.

• If you are unsure is your website is mobile-friendly, take this test.

• Check your website traffic to see if it is inline with previous month’s stats.

• Check out Google’s official Mobile SEO overview to gain a better understanding of what gets your site to show up in search results.

• Get in touch with a digital agency, like The Web Development Group.

How WDG can help.

At The Web Development Group, we approach every project with a mobile-first methodology. What that means is we draft, sketch out wireframes, and design your website first for a smartphone or tablet, and later for desktop. This process guarantees that your site will be platform agnostic and offer a seamless, compelling and effective user experience no matter what the device.

Need to improve your mobile responsiveness and improve your search engine ranking? Shoot us a message at [email protected]