Change is upon us. As of April 21st, Google shook up the world of search results. This revolution, nicknamed “Mobilegeddon”, has the potential to be extremely destructive to many brands, especially small businesses.
Google has determined that about 60% percent of online users are using a mobile device to access web material. In reaction, Google rolled out their latest search algorithm which ranks websites higher based on how mobile-friendly they are. If a brands online material doesn’t adapt properly when being accessed from a mobile device, web traffic and online engagement will diminish significantly. Even small businesses or brands with a separate mobile site that redirects users to a different domain will be negatively impacted in their page rank.
Google Page Two: Where Brands go to Die
Google announced the change to the algorithm on the 26th of February in their webmaster blog and many companies either weren’t paying attention or couldn’t redevelop their site in just two-and-a-half months.
Plus, this was a surprise so few had the foresight to allocate the budget for a complete a redevelopment of their site to be responsive.
Quality content that educates the consumer has been the focus for Google over the past several years. Their insistence that brands be honest brokers when it comes to their products and services has resulted in a sea of change on how information is presented online. Richer, deeper, better, brands are rewarded with higher page rank based on their content.
Now, Google is adding in an emphasis on the user experience with this change. This transition is occurring because mobile usage continues to become more dominant within our technology based society. According to research from comScore, “smartphone usage is up 394 percent, and tablet usage is up a whopping 1,721 percent as these platforms now combine to account for 60 percent of digital media time spent…Mobile-only internet usage is also becoming more common, driven predominantly by Millennials, of which 21 percent are no longer using desktop computers to go online.”
This algorithm will focus on sites that have large text, easily accessible links and ones which can sufficiently resize based on the mobile device being used. Businesses need to embrace the change and adapt quickly if they desire to remain relevant within their respective market. In order to make a website consistent with Google’s new guidelines, they need to focus on adjusting the size of content, its configuration and the contextual spacing of the site.
To learn more about how to make a website mobile-friendly or to test the functionality of a site, visit Google’s Mobile-Friendly Guide.
