Most of us don’t have the convenience of “unlimited data” from our mobile carriers anymore. Therefore, we monitor how much data we are pulling when we aren’t under the protective umbrella of wonderful WiFi.
With that being said, Google is taking into consideration things like how quickly your page can load on a mobile device, how easy it is to navigate, and how clickable links and buttons can be. These are all factors that can improve a user’s experience when it comes to a mobile visit. With an increasing trend of mobile versus desktop traffic year after year, Google is forcing businesses to keep up with the times with their online property.
Wait a minute, I was sold a “mobile friendly” website, are you telling me that my site isn’t “mobile friendly” now?
Yes and no. In essence, Google is changing the definition of “Mobile-Friendly”. In recent times, mobile friendly was depicted as a site that would display the same on desktop and mobile device. Google’s new requirements are virtually consolidating everything into what we in the industry would call “Mobile Responsive”. In a responsive version, you lose a lot of design elements in leu of a quicker load time, and quicker conversions. With anything in life; cars, computers, televisions, technology – things change. The same logic holds true for custom websites. Google has such a stronghold on the internet that when they make changes, it’s inevitable that you as a business owner may need to make some small changes to keep up.
Here are some helpful links that will shed some more light on the new changes:
Is my website Mobile-Friendly?
As you can see – this is the biggest SEO update that Google has ever released, and any competitors site who is mobile friendly will mostly likely rank ahead of everyone else as far as tablet and mobile searches go. Your site likely works fine on mobile – but not to Google’s new standards as you can see by the 3rd link. Google has their own mobile testing tool where it checks to see if touch elements may be too close (not “thumb-able”), if the font size shrinks too small, and a few other small things.
Ok, I get it. What do I do now?
Best thing to do is get with your website designer and/or programmer and inquire about converting the site into mobile responsive (friendly) to Googles new standards. If and when this change takes place April 21st, all sites that adhere to the new standards will get a nice initial boost in rankings, as an incentive from Google. If you’re an existing 561 Media client, be sure to contact your account manager, and get an estimate to make sure you’re not left behind against your competitors come the 21st. Call us at 561-417-8505 or fill out a Contact Request Form today!
