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Google Rolls Out New Mobile-Friendly Update. Now What?
Originally published for Sellpoints Inc. on May 14, 2015
On April 21, Google introduced a new algorithm update that boosts mobile search rankings for pages that are optimized for mobile devices.
According to Google, this update:
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Affects only search rankings on mobile device
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Affects search results in all languages globally
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Applies to individual pages, not entire websites
What this means, in simpler terms, is that Google is effectively prioritizing pages that are legible and usable on mobile devices over those that are not. The update will acknowledge, for example, mobile-friendly pages with larger text, links that are easy to click, and ones with responsive designs that change depending on screen size.
How You Can Use It to Improve the User Experience
One way to determine if your page is mobile-friendly is to use Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test Tool, which can provide helpful tips to make your site optimized for mobile devices if it isn’t already.
You can also fetch as Google in Webmaster Tools and select the “Mobile Smartphone” option to see how Google views your website’s top pages on a mobile device.
A few things to keep in mind:
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Is it accessing to the right version, or is it being redirected to a non-relevant page?
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Are the relevant SEO elements, such as the title and meta description of each page, being discovered?
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Are the site pages set up correctly (including the relevant annotations, http status, user agent detection, etc.) based on your chosen mobile site configuration?
The update ultimately signals Google’s push towards the adoption of mobile interfaces and indicates its efforts to tidy up mobile search results. Statistics from Google show that approximately 60% of online purchases are conducted on mobile devices, so we expect having a site that is mobile-friendly will be key in not only improving mobile queries, but will also enhance the mobile e-commerce experience overall.
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