877-490-8324This is HUGE news from Google…
Google has made a formal announcement about their mobile algorithm change. April 21st marks the day that Google will be rolling out their mobile-friendly ranking factor into their algorithm. Google said that this new ranking factor will run in real-time, so if you do miss this April 21st deadline, you should see your rankings shortly improve after you fix your site and you have mobile capability.
Many of you have received emails from us recently informing you that Google has contacted us about your site not being mobile compatible. They’re trying to get as many sites mobile friendly as possible before this algorithm update.
This is the FIRST TIME we’ve ever had Google tell the public, “On the 21st, we’re changing our algorithm; here’s what we’re doing.” This is a very big change for people in the SEO world. Google is always a bit ambiguous about their updates and activity. We suspect that they’re telling everyone openly about this because they need everyone to actively participate and correct any mobile issues. There are no shortcuts here. If your site isn’t mobile compatible, you’re going to suffer.
How Do You Check to Know if You Are Mobile-ready?
Go to https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/mobile-friendly/ right now and check your site. If having a solid search engine ranking is important, then you must be mobile-friendly at a minimum. That’s not the only consideration, but it’s a big part of it as we’ve blogged about many times before.
How Can You Make Your Site Mobile-friendly?
1. Use a Responsive Website Design
One path is to make the whole website responsive, which basically means that — no matter what screen size you are using — the same page will scale down to the screen. Or there are still people who choose to create a distinct mobile website, either at a different domain or sub-directory that has specific pages just optimized for mobile. We recommend WordPress. It’s clean and responsive if built correctly.
2. Keep Your Website Clean & Simple
You want to make sure your website’s design and content is clean and simple. Complicated components do not translate well in regards to mobile.
3. Prominently Display your Phone Number & Address on Your Site
If you are a business that gets phone calls, you want to make sure that your phone number is prominently placed, typically in the upper part of the site (the header). We always advise clients to put it in the upper right hand corner when possible. When mobile web browsers see a phone number, they typically turn that number into a clickable “click to call” event, which is what you want. Make this EASY for your customers.
4. Provide a Link to Google Maps
The same is true for your address. Most of the mobile browsers will very easily be able to turn your address into a link to a map service, whether it’s Apple Maps or it’s Google Maps, depending on what OS you’re on for your mobile device.
We’re here to help. 20% off all mobile projects/site conversions through the end of April. Don’t delay. Click here to schedule a consultation.