To stay in Google search's good graces, make sure your site is mobile-friendly
Google said in February that it was going to make mobile-friendliness matter more to its search-engine rankings. On Tuesday, it makes good on that commitment -- and webmasters who didn't heed the warning may see a steep drop in traffic.
It's a shift so potentially fraught with peril for those who aren't ready that it's being called "Mobilegeddon." Essentially, Google is expanding its use of mobile-friendliness as a ranking signal when it compiles search results. Sites that are mobile-friendly will be ranked higher in search results; those that aren't will suffer.
The change will affect mobile searches in all languages worldwide and will have "a significant impact in our search results," the company explained in a post announcing the change earlier this year on its Webmaster Central blog.
The idea is to improve search on mobile devices, and Google has provided tools to help webmasters ensure their sites live up to the new requirements. In addition to its guide to mobile-friendly sites, the company also offers a testing tool to assess mobile-friendliness along with full mobile usability reporting.
Sections of sites owned by Wikipedia, the BBC and the European Union all failed the Mobile-Friendly Test, the BBC reported on Monday.
"There's significant evidence that many large sites are still not mobile-friendly," said Greg Sterling, vice president for strategy and insights with the Local Search Association. "Google is trying to get mobile laggards to address the smartphone user experience."
By rewarding sites that are mobile-friendly, Google helps improve its overall mobile-search user experience, which in turn encourages more mobile-search usage, Sterling explained.
"If consumers have negative or frustrating experiences with mobile search, they'll be less inclined to use it," he said. "Google is more vulnerable in mobile than on the PC. It must continue to improve the mobile-search experience and make it competitive with apps."
It's possible some websites will experience a decline in traffic once Tuesday's changes take place, Sterling added, requiring a redesign of the site or at least the affected pages for better usability on mobile devices.
Marketing that urges respondents to ‘buy now’ is a little like asking someone to marry you on your first date. At any time, only 3 per cent of the market is looking for what you’re selling, so the chances of your date randomly being ‘The One’ is pretty slim.
The prospect of deep learning gives those of us in the industry something to get really excited about, and something to be nervous about, at the same time.
In 1976 Apple launched. The business would go on to change the game, setting the bar for customer experience (CX). Seamless customer experience and intuitive designs gave customers exactly what they wanted, making other service experiences pale in comparison.
In this bonus last episode of this new podcast series, BrandHook MD, Pip Stocks, talks with former ANZ group general manager of marketing, Louise Eyres, talks about the importance of thinking like a customer and using intuition to solve customer painpoints.
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