Google is about to update their algorithm again, and this time it could have a big impact on your business. I mean, really really big.
For context, when Google initially rolled out the Penguin algorithm update, it affected approximately 4% of global searches on desktop and mobile. When they rolled out Panda, it affected nearly 12% of English searches. This time around.
What’s the new algorithm update about? It will use mobile-friendliness as a ranking signal — if your website isn’t mobile-friendly, you could get dinged in the SERPs when someone is searching Google using a mobile device.
So if you want to make sure that you’re prepared for this change, keep on reading. We’ll dive into more details on what the update will entail and give you some tools to help diagnose your site’s mobile-readiness.
What Is the Mobile Algorithm Update?
Think back to the last time you landed on a site that wasn’t optimized for mobile. Chances are, you needed to zoom and then swipe side-to-size to even read what was on the page. And when you went to go click on something, your fingers could barely select the tiny links. I’m going to bet good money that you just bounced from that page — with all the information on the internet, you didn’t need to waste your time on a website with a really poor user experience.
Google’s realized how frustrating this whole experience is and decided to change their algorithm accordingly. Soon, when someone’s searching on a mobile device, Google will serve up sites that are easy to read, make navigations and links easy to tap, have images appropriately sized for the device, and more generally, make information easy to find. Want to see some mobile sites already doing this right?
Back to the algorithm update. At the moment, Google denotes which sites are mobile-friendly in their mobile search results (below is an example of what that looks like). But in a few weeks, they’ll be actually rewarding and penalizing websites for their mobile experience. This will be rolled out during the week of April 21st, so you’ve got some time to figure out if your website is mobile friendly and get your ducks in a row.
