May 30, 2016
Mobile-Friendly Websites to Enjoy Rankings Boost
“Mobilegeddon”—spring 2015’s buzzword in the world of SEO and even mainstream news—made headlines again after Google’s latest mobile-friendly algorithm update was confirmed by the company last March. 1
Much of the ominous hype surrounding the initial roll out of the mobile-friendly algorithm in April 2015 was due to the fact that it would impact rankings for webpages: those “with large text, easily clickable links, and optimized sizes that fit the smaller screen of a smartphone” would be promoted in the mobile SERPs and those that were not would suffer demotion, which is essentially what happened.
Thanks to the May 2016 update, websites that have recently converted to a mobile-friendly format may enjoy a rankings boost as they climb above desktop stalwarts.
Why Go Mobile Friendly?
The initial mobile-friendly algorithm update and this latest one are not simply arbitrary measures by Google to make the coveted page one rankings on smartphone searches even more seemingly unattainable. Far from it—as with many of Google’s algorithmic changes, this one reflects the company’s commitment to accommodating user behavior and preferences.
With mobile searches eclipsing desktop for some time now, it makes sense that Google would strive to deliver the best user experience on smartphones by returning pages optimized for them before ones that aren’t—ones that leave users frustrated.
It’s Never Too Late to Change
As long as searchers prefer to find the nearest pizza parlor or shoe repair shop via their smartphones, Google will likely continue to cater to them by improving its mobile-friendly algorithm update.
If you haven’t already, it’s not too late to make your website mobile-friendly and reap the ranking benefits, especially since the algorithm update is being implemented in real time—it’s just a matter of how quickly Google crawls your pages.
Google even offers resources to make the change, including mobile guidelines and a mobile friendly tool to check how your site fairs.
Digital marketers must balance the demands of search engines and users to be successful, and in this case, making your site mobile-friendly could just please both.
Additional Sources:
1- https://webmasters.googleblog.com/2016/03/continuing-to-make-web-more-mobile.html
