Top 3 Google Mobile Algorithm Takeaways You Need to Know Now
The web is constantly changing. Even how we access it is changing. It used to be that only a handful of people had access to the Internet. Then, as prices became more affordable, more and more people started buying personal computers. Eventually, Internet speeds increased as well. Now, 61% of people in the United States have a smartphone. Businesses can’t afford to miss out on this opportunity to reach consumers. Google knows this as well.
On April 21st, 2015, Google rolled out a huge mobile-friendly update. What does this mean for you? Well if you’re not already, you need to have a mobile friendly website – no ifs, ands, or buts. This is integral to your success because according to comScore statistics, mobile users are expected to exceed desktop users this year. Additionally, Gartnerpredicts that mobile data traffic will reach 51.8 exabytes this year. That’s huge! Since Google’s update affects search rankings on mobile devices in particular, it’s important to know exactly what was affected and how to get in front of it. Here are the three top takeaways from Google’s mobile algorithm update:
1. All About the Smartphones
The most important tidbit from this update is that it only affects users searching from mobile devices. Since that’s a pretty big percentage of people though, you need to take note and make sure your site is ready. This update also affects searches on a global scale, so it affects smartphone searches around the world as well as in all languages.
Are you not sure if your site is mobile-friendly? Check it on Google’s Mobile Friendly Test.
2. Change Is Possible
Even if your website isn’t mobile-friendly now, that doesn’t mean it can’t be fixed. As soon as your website is converted, Google will automatically crawl and reprocess its findings. Additionally, you can also force the crawl yourself to help accelerate this process.
3. Don’t Count Yourself Out…Yet
Google has promised that not all websites who aren’t mobile-friendly will be negatively impacted. Relevancy and the quality of content is still king. That being said, it could be a huge win for your website traffic to make these user-friendliness and site load speed changes.
Do you need help getting your website upgraded to mobile? Power Digital Marketing can help! We offer complete web development solutions that are custom fitted to your needs. Don’t get left behind, leaving users unable to access your website due to outdated techniques that don’t scale into the modern smartphone age.