On April 21, 2015, Google will PUNISH
websites that are not “mobile-friendly.”

By Brett Lloyd Abbott, MYM Austin Inc.

I have a lot of respect for Google.  They’ve used their primary goal of “give people the best search results possible” to achieve their secondary goal, which is to make billions and billions of dollars.  Congratulations, Google; well done.

This goal of producing great search results is what led to such friendly-sounding software (algorithm) updates such as “Penguin” and “Panda” and “Pigeon” and “Pirate.” And it now leads to the much-anticipated April 25 “mobile-friendly” algorithm update, which is intended to quietly and gently PUNISH any websites that have not yet bothered to make themselves you”mobile-friendly.”

This is quite possibly the LEAST COMPLICATED algorithm they’ve ever implemented.  It’s as simple as this:

1. “Is this website mobile-friendly?”
2. “No?  Then go to the back of the line.”

Indeed, if you conduct a Google search on your mobile phone right now, you’ll notice that invariably, the first listings all have this little “tag” that says “Mobile-friendly,” as shown in the screenshot to the right. This seems to confirm that all the “non-mobile-friendly” websites are now getting pushed back to the end of the line.

(FYI – If you look up YOUR website on your mobile phone, and it doesn’t have the “mobile friendly” tag that you see in this screenshot, then you’ve got a problem.)

Fortunately, this doesn’t affect “desktop searches,” but that point may be moot, since Google has admitted for years that “mobile-friendliness” DOES in fact have an impact on your overall search rankings, even on desktop searches.

You can check YOUR website right now for FREE.
It takes less than 3 minutes.

You can use Google’s “Mobile-Friendly Test” tool to instantly figure out (1) whether or not they perceive your website as “mobile-friendly,” and (2) what issues, if any, need to be addressed.

You should also run a “page speed” test while you’re there, to make sure your mobile friendly site isn’t being penalized for speed or loading issues.

If you’ve been postponing the update/revision of your website to “mobile ready,” then consider this your wake-up call.

If you need help updating your website, just give us a call.  Or check out our “website update” options on the MYM Austin website here.

To your success…

Brett

©2015 Brett Lloyd Abbott / MYM Austin, Inc. May not be used without permission.

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