Go mobile. If you’ve been holding out on optimizing your website – do it now. Why? Because Google said so. Google recently revealed changes to their search algorithm that Search Engine Watch reports “will favor sites with best-in-class mobile infrastructure.” In changing the ranking of smartphone search results, Google is giving businesses everywhere a strongly-encouraged push toward quality non-desktop SEO.
With some websites receiving over 50% of their total traffic from mobile, it’s no longer an option to stick to desktop basics. A poor mobile site will not only turn off users, but search engines as well – resulting in a lower ranking.
In their blog post highlighting the changes, Google calls out two specific mistakes in mobile SEO – the first of which is faulty redirects. This is described as “when a desktop page redirects smartphone users to an irrelevant page on the smartphone-optimized website.” Taking all smartphone users to the same page is not exactly creating the ideal mobile website experience.
The second mobile mistake is smartphone-only errors. The various scenarios for these are described here. Of course there are other blunders to avoid, but these are the top few. As mobile continues to grow in popularity, it’s vital to take all necessary steps to ensure your site is correctly optimized. The question is, are you prepared to start a mobile website design project?
This change makes it clear that Google values the user experience – and you better too. Adhering to the alterations can result in higher engagement and increased traffic. An optimized site will benefit your business both in terms of user satisfaction and search engine indexing.
When it comes to specific solutions, Search Engine Watch reports that “Google likes responsive website design.”
By the end of this year, there will be more mobile devices than humans. Is your website ready for all of those mobile hits?