This is a friendly reminder that Google’s algorithm will update later this month, and it’s more important than ever to make sure your website is friendly not just to visitors on regular computers—but those using tablets and smartphones, too.
Here’s a direct quote from Google’s announcement about this update:
Starting April 21, we will be expanding our use 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.
In other words, if you’re not catering to the growing number of users that are using mobile devices to browse the web, Google’s going to penalize you for it.
It’s not clear yet exactly what that will look like—but if you value getting new traffic from Google, it’s a good idea to pay attention to this change.
Not sure if your website qualifies as mobile-friendly?
Visit Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test to check—just enter your URL then click “Analyze”.
Uh oh, my site’s NOT mobile-friendly…what now?
First of all, instead of panicking and cursing Google, remember that making your website mobile-friendly is actually going to help you a great deal—and not just as it relates to your search presence. At the core, this change is reflecting the fact that more and more people are using tiny devices instead of big ol’ computers to look at websites—and it’s a basic marketing courtesy to make sure that your customers can find what they are looking for on your website with ease.
If your website isn’t mobile-friendly, a user might visit your website and…
- have to squint to see teeny-tiny text
- then they try to click a button but click the wrong one because the buttons are so close together (oh, hello, frustration)
- then they try zooming in, but then can only see a teeny part of the page
That’s not ease-y, and it’s definitely not “friendly” to these humans who you are trying to connect with.
If you use a WordPress website already, the answer might be pretty simple—there are plugins that create a mobile-optimized version of your site, or you might choose to add a new theme or adjust your current theme to make it mobile responsive, which means the content will auto-magically realign itself to all the different screen sizes, from desktop to tablet to smartphone.
Shameless plug: Hello Blu Studio makes websites that are mobile-responsive, and has been doing so since before this Google algorithm announcement was made—because this feature is so critically important, I just can’t in good conscience allow my customers to get by without having it.
Have questions or need help making your website mobile-friendly? Let’s chat! I offer different levels of assistance to suit your needs and budget—from hour-long consultations to get you started on a DIY path, all the way to doing the whole thing for you.