Mobilegeddon has been a hot topic since Google announced a change in their algorithm months ago (focusing on mobile friendly websites). They began rolling out the change on April 21st and claimed it could take a week or more for the entire process to really take shape.
Since the launch, Google has reported that a near 5% increase in mobile friendly sites has surfaced. Not bad.
What is Mobilegeddon?
Here it is in a nutshell:
Google made tweaks to its search algorithm that brought attention to websites that are mobile friendly. Websites that are mobile friendly, and steeped in engaging, relevant content will make their way to the top of search results. Sites that are “not friendly” (contain text that’s too small, sites that take a long time to load and are graphics heavy and hard to navigate, get less favorable exposure). That said, this tweak to the algorithm does not affect desktop search queries. At least not directly.
40% of the world’s largest organizations have a web presence that is not mobile friendly. This change could certainly affect the bottom line. Web traffic and applicable queries are huge on mobile devices. Consider the following:
- 64% of American adults own a smartphone. That’s not a small number.
- 42% of American adults own a tablet computer.
- Over 1.2 billion people access the Web from their mobile devices.
- 50-60% of web searches occur on mobile devices. That number will only grow as we continue marching into the future.
- 61% of people have a better opinion of brands when they offer a good mobile experience.
Mobile compatibility isn’t hard. It starts with a proactive approach and a desire to be “up on the times.” If you’re not doing it now (and really, you should), you will be doing it in the near future. The numbers that exist for mobile connectivity and usage will only grow as we step deeper into the future. In regards to how you rank in search engine queries: don’t get stuck at the back of the line.
Here’s a handful of reasons why you need to make sure your website is optimized for mobile:
Holding the attention of the end user
You’ve likely visited a site on your mobile device where the text was smaller than a grain of salt. You’ve probably tapped the screen or dragged your fingers along the face of your device to expand the size in an attempt to read what’s there. After a few moments of struggling to navigate the site, you probably gave up. That’s not mobile friendly. Not at all. Was the site you visited yours? Uh oh. Call in the doctor, mobile users are avoiding your site like the plague. Time to figure out a remedy… That site of yours needs to be able to “snap” into place from screen to screen, without fail. Once this occurs, the text and graphic elements of your site will be readable to your target audience – without fuss. It’s about being “responsive.”
Your precious content
We live in a time where “content is king.” Companies spend a large percentage of their marketing budget on content creation in an attempt to keep up with SEO best practices. If you’re avoiding the new, Google “mandated” mobile friendly best practice that content isn’t being read. Revert to “Holding the attention of the end user.” If people are messing around trying to adjust the size of your content, they’re not spending time reading it. And that’s where the value is. Why create the content if it’s being ignored and eventually completely cast aside because your web presence isn’t friendly for mobile users?
Hello – what about your branding
If you’re not mobile friendly, your branding is also getting lost on mobile devices. Your logo shrinks down to nothing. Your target audience gives up on you and thinks less of your brand as an authoritative entity because you seem antiquated at first glance. Don’t allow this to happen. Embrace the mobile market. Make your branding pop the way it does on a desktop or laptop computer. Again, it’s easy. You just need to cross the bridge.
If your call to action isn’t calling attention, therein lies no action
Again, if your content is virtually invisible to the naked eye, and your callout items aren’t optimized for the mobile screen, people aren’t going to sit there trying to click on the buttons hoping they eventually hit the right spot. Mobile optimize. Pull out those call to action items. Bring them to the forefront and capitalize on end-user response.
Outrank the competition
Let’s face it, if you’re not at the top of the list when a user conjures up a search query, you’re not going to be found. We mentioned this above as being the whole idea behind this whole “Mobilegeddon” event, and it is the end all / be all as it pertains to optimizing your site for mobile usage. Do you rank well on desktop and laptop queries? Great. Is your site optimized for mobile compatibility? No? Well, kiss that rank goodbye when people are looking for you from their phone. We’re approaching a time when the majority of online work will overtake work from a desktop or laptop computer. Mobility is a way of life.
Here are some FAQs about Google’s latest mobile-friendly algorithm update: http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/2015/04/faqs-april-21st-mobile-friendly.html
Need help or have questions? Give us a shout. We can take that site of yours and make it mobile responsive in a jiffy.
