Google is making important changes on April 21st to their search engine that will affect your website. Google has already demoted slow websites and are now targeting websites that are not compatible with mobile devices.

Google Is Prioritising Mobile-Friendly Websites

Around 60% of web traffic comes from mobile devices and Google wants to make the experience for mobile users better. As of the 21^st April they will be moving mobile-friendly sites up the search results.

A mobile-friendly site ensures:

• The text fits within the mobile device screen – you don’t have to scroll sideways to read it.
• The size of the text is easy to read on the device.
• Menus, links and buttons are all easy to activate using your finger.
• The website loads fast on mobile.

Not Mobile-Friendly?

If your website is not mobile-friendly then your site is going to drop down Google’s search results for all mobile users. And if you’re on page 1 of Google at the moment you’re going to be worst hit. Not only will you lose your spot to any mobile-friendly competitors, you’ll immediately lose any potential customers directly to them.

What’s worse is that if you do get mobile-friendly after the deadline, you may not immediately get back up the list.

Features of a site that is not mobile-friendly include:

• The site does not fit on the mobile screen. You have to continually scroll down and sideways to view the site.
• The site is small and hard to read. You need to zoom in and out to view it.
• Links are hard to navigate because your thumb is too big for the links.

Not sure if your site is up to scratch?

If you’re not sure whether your site is mobile-friendly you can use Google’s mobile-friendly tool here.

Make the most of the opportunity

Of course, every cloud has a silver lining. There is a hidden opportunity in all of this. If you can get mobile-friendly before your competitors, you will jump above them in mobile search, and reach potential customers while your competitors drop off page 1.

Take action now!

No matter what your position, this is one of the few occasions where you really do need to act now. Get in touch with your developer and jump up the search results with a quick redesign.

If you need help to jump the queue, contact us