mobile search results Archives

by Gail Oliver, Online Marketing Consultant

Wonder why #Mobilegeddon was trending on Twitter yesterday? After announcing in February that they would be giving preference to mobile-friendly sites when users search from their phones, yesterday Google officially made the change to its search algorithm.

If in the next two weeks you see your search traffic from mobile drop off (traffic source usually has “m.” in front) then your site may not be mobile-friendly. With 60% of all searches now being done on people’s phones that could really hurt your business.

What is Google’s Criteria for Mobile-Friendly?

sites that streamline interactions for visitors on their site
sites that make it easy for visitors to complete tasks
sites that can resize to fit whatever screen they’re viewed on (responsive web design)

Websites that aren’t mobile-friendly will show up lower in search results.

How Can You Tell if Your Site is Mobile-Friendly?

Just enter your url in Google’s Mobile Friendly Test Box. If it indicates that your site is not mobile-friendly, just stay on their page and click over to the tab that says “Mobile Guide” and Google will walk you through what you need to do.

Keep in mind this update applies to individual pages, not your entire website. So if your site does come up as not being mobile-friendly, you may have certain pages on your site that are, and therefore these pages will still rank well in mobile search results.