While Google’s mobile algorithm already rolled out, there are still many unanswered questions amongst small businesses. In order to remain on Google’s “good list” your website MUST be mobile friendly.
On April 21, 2015, Google rolled out a new algorithm update that requires all websites to be mobile friendly if they want to show up towards the top of search result pages. If a page isn’t mobile friendly, other pages - including your competitors who are mobile friendly - will be given priority in search results. Don’t worry, it’s not too late for your small business to get on board! However, it is best to get your website mobile friendly ASAP while the algorithm is still calculating and assessing websites.
If you’re wondering whether your website is mobile friendly or not you can always check by getting on your smart phone and looking for the mobile friendly label right new to the site in search results. Another way to check, without getting on a smart phone is to go to this mobile friendly testing tool website and copy the URL into the space provided.
This is a really helpful list that answers all of the most common questions that you may have. Pretty much any question about Google’s mobile update will be answered below. Continue on by clicking on the link at the very bottom to read the entire article.
Mobilegeddon Checklist: How To Prepare For This Week’s Google Mobile Friendly Update
Posted by Barry Schwartz of Search Engine Land
Q: What is this algorithmic update, who will it impact?
A: This update will impact only mobile searchers and it will give a ranking boost to mobile-friendly pages in Google’s mobile search results only.
Q: Will it impact desktop searchers? Will my desktop rankings drop?
A: No, it will only impact mobile searchers and will have no impact on your desktop rankings.
Q: Will it impact tablet searchers?
A: No, this only impacts searches done on mobile smartphone devices, not tablets.
Q: How do I know if my site is mobile friendly?
A: There are a few ways but the only way to know if your site is already indexed by Google as mobile friendly is to see if your site has the mobile friendly label in the mobile search results. Using the mobile friendly testing tool will show if you pass the test, but Google may still need some time to update their index to pick up on the fact that your web pages are mobile friendly. You can also the mobile within Google Webmaster Tools, but those can be fairly delayed.
Q: Didn’t Google release a mobile ranking algorithm in 2013?
A: Yes they did, but that was specific around core issues accessing a mobile site, this is expanding on that around mobile usability issues.
Q: When did we first hear about these new mobile ranking changes?
A: In December 2014, Google told us they are experimenting with a new mobile friendly ranking algorithm.
Q: Is the mobile friendly algorithm site-wide or on a web page by web page basis?
A: The mobile friendly algorithm is on a page by page basis. So even if only some of your web pages are not mobile friendly, some come benefit from this algorithm.
Q: Is this a real-time or delayed algorithm?
A: Unlike Panda or Penguin, the mobile friendly algorithm is run in real time. Sometimes the mobile friendly label can be delayed in showing up in the search results, but Google will pick up on those changes in real time.
Q: If I make my site mobile friendly today, how long will it take Google to pick up on those changes?
A: As we said above, the algorithm is real time. We also explained above that Google has to crawl your web pages to determine if they are mobile friendly. Early tests show that it can take anywhere from a few hours to over 72-hours if you do everything right for Google to show your web pages as mobile friendly. I would not be surprised if large sites can take up to a month to be displayed as fully mobile friendly. So make sure your most important pages are indexed as mobile friendly sooner than later.
[To Continue Reading Original Article: Mobilegeddon Checklist: How To Prepare For This Week’s Google Mobile Friendly Update]
If you need to make your website mobile friendly and aren’t sure how, we can help! More importantly if you want to truly learn how to optimize your website and market your small business on the internet we can get you started today.
Since 2002, Half a Bubble Out has been dedicated to providing marketing, advertising and small business consulting that meet the needs of our clients. We specialize in powerfully telling stories through inbound marketing to grow your business filled with more passion and provision. Based in Chico California, we serve clients throughout Northern California and across the country to New York.
