You may have seen recent news about Google’s “Mobilegeddon”, but why should you care if you do not do search engine optimization nor sell your products online? Well unfortunately, even if you just have a brochure site, you should pay attention to this release. As of last week, Google has begun promoting sites that are mobile-friendly over sites that are not. If your site is not mobile-friendly, then it is likely that competitor websites will show up before yours – even when people are directly looking for you.
Why did Google do this? Mobile makes up approximately half of all Google searches, and Google wants to make sure these searchers have a great experience.
A study done by online Internet marketing firm Portent found that a majority of the Web’s top sites actually aren’t mobile-friendly. Portent tested 25,000 Web pages that were ranked as “top sites” and found that 10,000 sites failed Google’s mobile-readiness test, including large entities like the Department of Homeland Security. Reality has set in – you have to be mobile. In fact, industry experts predict that smartphone searches could soon outnumber searches from personal computers.
So, you may ask yourself, what does it mean to be mobile-friendly? According to Google a mobile-friendly site boils down to the following:
- Avoids software that doesn’t render well on common mobile devices. (i.e. Adobe Flash)
- Uses text that is readable without zooming.
- Sizes content to the screen properly without having to scroll horizontally. (Vertically is fine)
- Places links far enough apart so that the correct link can be easily tapped.
So, what does this mean for your business? It’s time to convert your site to a mobile-ready site. You can follow the below steps to ensure that your website is on track:
- Google your company’s name and see if your site says it is mobile-ready. In addition, see if it still retains the first spot on the organic search results.
- Use web-specific tools to determine if your site has mobile usability issues. Take advantage of Google’s newly-released mobile-friendly test which allows companies to see whether their sites are ready for the algorithm tweak.
- Finally, contact a web developer to develop a fix for your site if needed.
Regardless of whether you take action or not, you should Google your company name as soon as you can and make sure your website remains at the top of the listings.
For more information, click here to learn more about what the update does and does not affect.
Lumentus
Lumentus is a strategic communications consulting firm that helps its clients manage their brands, protect their reputations and improve their perceptions across target and stakeholder audiences. Lumentus Social is the firm’s social media technology and communications solutions unit, also based in the New York office. The firm’s principals are leading practitioners in the areas of corporate communications, public relations and public affairs, digital reputation management, social media, advertising and branding. Lumentus practices a discipline-agnostic approach that yields dynamic solutions able to continuously reflect changing business demands.