This week's guest post was written by Sarah Smith, a small business owner and a writer of Constant Clicks she is currently learning about digital marketing.
Earlier this year, Google released a major update to the algorithm the company uses to rank websites on its results pages. The update codified a new standard for webpages- mobile responsiveness, or mobile readiness. Sites that meet the standard now get boosted above those that do not for all search users on mobile devices. Because the share of Internet users on mobile devices has been growing rapidly in recent years, it is critical that companies who want to stay competitive redesign their sites so that they are mobile-responsive. The algorithm update makes that essential for effective search engine optimization.
What This Means
To be more specific, mobile responsiveness is a set of features that together make it easier for mobile browsers to read a webpage. It includes, for example, images that automatically resize themselves, a font that still appears crisp and sharp on a mobile device, and hyperlinks that are spaced far enough apart so that a person on a phone's small screen can tap them individually.
Google created this standard as a way to reward sites that are more friendly to mobile users. The search giant's reasoning was that this would lead to a better browsing experience for those users, and that any site that met that standard would be more valuable to users than a site that did not. As a result, Google's algorithm update applies only to mobile users. Anyone searching on a laptop or desktop would not notice a difference, but someone searching on a phone or tablet would see a new set of sites clustered at the top of the results page with the words “Mobile friendly” next to them.
This is a major change. Fortunately, Google has also created a tool to check if site is mobile friendly. You can enter any webpage or URL and Google's tool will provide a simple yes or no answer as to whether it meets the standard. Google has even built some guides for how to design a page to be mobile responsive. That is not as good as a mobile template, but it's a start.
Mobile Responsive Websites Are A Must
In the wake of the big update, it has become necessary to rebuild a website to be mobile-responsive out of sheer survival. Many business owners and marketers have made the changes because they do not want to be at a big disadvantage if they fail to change, but their rivals do. That would push them down on results pages and lose them traffic.
In the long run, the change is good for users, because they will get sites that they can use more easily when they surf from a mobile device. But in the meantime, site operators are scrambling to adapt to the new rule. If you are one of the people still sitting on the fence, don't hesitate. Failing to switch means that you are giving up a large and growing audience on smartphones and tablets.
