03 Apr Google Tweaks Algorithm to Boost the Ranking of Mobile Friendly Pages
Whether your brand is mobile friendly or not, Google’s apocalyptic ‘Mobilegeddon’ update rolls out April 21
Google officially announced in February 2015 that the use of mobile friendliness as a ranking signal in search engine results pages would be expanded. As April 21 approaches some people are referring to the update as ‘Mobilegeddon,’ but it should be viewed as an opportunity rather than an apocalyptic threat.
Why the Emphasis on Mobile?
Google’s logic for the mobile-friendly update is straightforward. According to Google, “when it comes to search on mobile devices, users should get the most relevant and timely results, no matter if the information lives on mobile-friendly web pages or apps.”
With the expansion of mobile-friendliness as a ranking signal, “this change will affect mobile searches in all languages, worldwide and will have a significant impact in our search results. Consequently, users will find it easier to get relevant, high quality search results that are optimized for their devices.”
Mobile is One Piece of the User Experience Pie
Google’s mobile friendly update is only a small part of a larger issue – user experience. Evolving your brand’s mobile strategies to rank well in search engine results pages is a short-term goal, but long term it’s critical to be proactive about giving end-users the best experience possible. How so?
- Unique content
- Fast page load speeds
- Short navigation paths
- Serving up all the same content, regardless of device accessed from
Surviving ‘Mobilegeddon’
Surviving ‘Mobilegeddon’ is simple if you employ a SEO strategy that focuses on end-users first. Building responsive web pages and optimizing your content for people first and search engines second, result in happy brand-loyal customers and search engines will reward that.
Analyze a URL with Google’s Mobile Friendly Test or see Google FAQs on the Mobile Websites section of the Webmaster Forum.