Google and Your Website
Google and Your Website
“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 on our search results.”
What does that mean for your website? If your website is not responsive or mobile friendly, your mobile search engine rankings will take a hit. (Say goodbye to your first page rankings)
Why is this happening? Google is putting mobile users first, because mobile traffic is outweighing desktop traffic on the old “inter-web” these days…
Not sure if your site is mobile-friendly or responsive? Test it here
If your website is responsive, pat yourself on the back and go watch videos of cute puppies…
If your site is mobile-only, take a deep breath knowing your site will be safe from Google’s “mobile-pocalypse,” but you might want to continue reading to learn the many benefits of a responsive website.
If your website FAILED you’ve got two options:
– Option 1: Create a mobile-only website that links to your website
– Option 2: Replace your website with a responsive website
Mobile-only design: This is a separate website specifically for mobile devices. (You will end up having two websites, one for desktop users and one for mobile users.)
Pros:
- Lower upfront cost
- Customizable for mobile users
Cons:
- Site needs to be maintained frequently for future browsers
- Higher long-term costs to maintain and update multiple websites
- SEO challenges – Google sees two websites vs. “piggy backing” on the sites
- Redirecting from desktop website slows the loading, hurting SEO
Responsive Website: This is an all-inclusive website that aesthetically fits whatever device (desktop, mobile, tablet…) users are browsing on.
Pros:
- Lower lifetime cost (less day to day maintenance)
- One website covers everything
- Very flexible among different devices
- Provides users with a unified experience no matter the device ~ ideal for branding
- Google recommends responsive – (Google is the BOSS..surrender for your business’ sake)
Cons:
- Higher upfront cost
The Trend: Google has specified that these changes are specific to mobile search results, however indicators suggest that Google will expand these rankings to desktop searches as well. With mobile devices outweighing desktop users, we recommend that businesses and organizations switch their websites to responsive or mobile-friendly now.
The Reality: So on April 21, 2015 Google’s mobile ranking algorithm will include their new mobile-friendly usability factors, either pushing your site’s mobile SEO rankings up, (if you’re mobile-friendly/responsive) or pulling your mobile rankings down if your website is not.
Contact us at O2 Creative for more information and to find out how this will impact your website. Don’t let your search ranking slip. Let us help you revamp your website and capitalize on Google’s new mobile ranking algorithm.
The importance of mobile websites
How many folks access the Internet on mobile devices? Quite a few, actually, and the numbers continue to grow. Experts predict that by 2014, more people will surf the ‘net on mobile devices than on desktop computers. That means more and more people will be doing business on mobile devices as well. They’ll be using their smart phones and tablets from anywhere and everywhere to access the websites of businesses like…well, you.
Of course, just because customers can find your website on mobile devices doesn’t necessarily mean their mobile experience with your website will be a good one. If your website isn’t designed to be viewed on mobile devices, then it probably doesn’t have the right graphics, buttons, navigation screens, sizes, and other details to make it easy to view on a smart phone or tablet. It can make your website look disorderly and unprofessional, which is not the impression you want to be giving customers. You should make the effort to get your website mobile-friendly. It’ll make more and more of your customers happy, which will undoubtedly make you happy, too!
75% of customers prefer a mobile-friendly website when surfing the net on their mobile devices. That means if you indeed have a mobile-friendly website, then the majority of mobile device customers will favor you over…oh, say, your competitor who doesn’t have a mobile-friendly website.
Roughly half of customers say they are less likely to do business with someone if a mobile website experience was bad. They think it’s indicative of a business that just doesn’t care. But, of course you care! That’s why you should develop your mobile site – to please the customers. Before, you know, the customers just stop bothering with you and start doing business with somebody else.
Long story short, an optimized mobile website pleases your customers because it makes doing business with you that much easier, whenever, wherever. If you don’t have a good mobile website, then your customer’s experience with your website may not be good, either. It could frustrate your customers, which could cause them to simply do business elsewhere, and ultimately end up tarnishing your entire brand image. Don’t let that happen.
At O2 Creative, we’ve optimized websites for businesses large and small. We make sure a website is clean and easy to navigate from any smart phone or tablet, anywhere and at any time. So if you want to mobile-optimize your website, or create a dedicated mobile site, then come talk to us. Trust us – your customers, and everyone else involved in your business, will appreciate it.
Click here for more information about mobile websites in the original Yahoo article.
Click here to read our next blog post – search engine optimization!