In April, specifically April 21st of 2015, Google has announced an update to its search engine algorithm, that will place emphasis on websites being mobile friendly. What is mobile friendly? How can you test this? And how does this impact your organic search traffic from Google?
From Google Webmaster Central Blog…
Google wants the internet to be mobile-friendly, and will now be penalizing brands and websites not friendly to the mobile age.
The internet, Google search and the rise of mobile…
The internet has changed over the years. We are, as a culture of the digital age, experiencing more content, absorbing more information and asking more questions, every single day.
How much has our usage of the internet changed? What about platforms? And, what about Google in itself?
Thank you InternetLiveStats.com
As you can see, from 2006 on, Google has increased their search volume at a >25% increase.
And potential customers, possible visitors, use organic search for EVERYTHING. According to this article from CBS News, almost 59% of adults use the internet to find health answers and diagnose health problems. Of those, over 80% use search engines for their answers!
For local businesses, this works the same.
People, i.e., your potential clients and customers, are not looking for your brand, they are looking for their own solution. Google is the standard platform for finding the answer to nearly any question. Most of the time, those people are in their home location; their own regional or locale. And this is where Google starts to give you great results for local businesses.
Google, in an effort to serve the best results, for the users of their search engine, in their region, has already started to give better results for mobile users. After all, mobile devices come standard with regional geolocation software and tracking. Google can then use this to know the city that you are in, and serve relevant results as well.
The natural path of all of this is mobile device usage for users of Google search, as well as your own brand. Google wants to give relevant results in relation to user intent and location. If they are in a city, and searching for a solution or service, Google mixes that location with that need and serves results.
And what devices are used the most? PCs? Laptops? NOPE!
The real answer is via mobile devices. In 2014, there was a higher revenue of sales of mobile devices than the traditional PC and laptops. In 2015, according to ExtremeTech, tablet sales will surpass traditional sales of PCs and laptops.
The future is on mobile devices. More searches occur on mobile devices. And, slowly, the internet is becoming more and more mobile. So, it stands to reason, that the largest search engine in the world, would want results in their search engine queries to be considered “mobile friendly”.
Are you ready to become mobile friendly in Google?
Is your website mobile friendly in Google?
The first step is to use the information in your Google Webmaster Tools. This is your lifeline to any issues, errors or problems that Google might have with your brand or website.
If you do have an issue, chances are, you’ve received a notice in your ‘Messages’ tab over the last couple of months. Below, is an example of what this looks like.
Whether you have received a notice or not, you can also use the Google Mobile-Friendly Testing Tool that Google has provided.
After typing in your URL, and clicking Analyze, you will be presented with a ‘pass’ or ‘fail’ style of screen. If you passed, then you have no issues, and you can sit back and smile. However, the majority of websites I have tested have come back with poor results.
If you do have errors and problems on your website, Google will also itemize major issues and you can fix them. The tool details resources for changes required, and even gives a preview of your website in a mobile device.
What will happen if you are not mobile friendly in Google?
Right now, nothing will happen to your brand. However, after April 21st, 2015, Google will alter a few visuals in their SERPs (search engine results pages). And, after this, even more issues could leads to your brand seeing zero organic search traffic.
Let me explain…
Google will tag your website as not mobile friendly
After April 21st, Google will tag brands and websites that are not mobile friendly as just that. For mobile search users, they will see a small icon that gives a negative ‘not mobile friendly’ visual for those users.
With mobile search being a bigger source of traffic, what do you think would happen to visitors about to click your links in search, when seeing those icons?
Google will kill your search engine rankings
After this, possibly weeks, months or years, Google will also start to hurt your search engine rankings. As time goes on, since you are not inline with the mentality that Google wishes, which is providing users with the best results and experience possible, Google will give less weight to your brand in search.
Over time, your keywords that you are ranking for, those positions on the first or second page of Google that gain you organic search traffic and leads to sales will fade away. Can you afford to lose leads and lose revenue from organic search? Can you afford for that extra revenue to fully disappear simply because you did not make simple, easy changes to your brand’s website?
A simple mobile-friendly offer for your brand
To help local businesses fall under the guidelines of this upcoming Google update, I’d like to give you a free offer. Contact me today, we can schedule a 20 minute consultation about your brand, your website and this update.
I can also give you information and consult with you on other internet marketing needs, and answer any questions that you might have.
