As of today, Google is making the move to favour websites which are optimised for mobile. Are you ready?

Dubbed ‘mobilegeddon’ by a few of the more melodramatic writers on the web, Google’s plans to favour websites which are optimised for mobile web surfers have hit the headlines over the past couple of weeks. Today, the changes to Google’s algorithm come into effect. Are you ready?

When it comes to the complex ever-evolving Google algorithm, we as businesses are used to chopping and changing our online strategy as dictated by Hummingbirds, Pigeons, Pandas and even Pirates. For those of you who aren’t familiar with these terms, they’re the names given to updates in the algorithm which keeps online businesses (and indeed pirates) on their toes.

Unlike its animalistic counterparts, this most recent update was announced two months in advance to its implementation in a blog post published to Google’s Webmaster Central Blog on February 26th of this year. Referencing the explosion of mobile web surfing, the blog relays that “when it comes to search on mobile devices, users should get the most relevant and timely results, no matter if the information lives on mobile-friendly web pages or apps. As more people use mobile devices to access the internet, [Google’s] algorithms have to adapt to these usage patterns”. By favouring mobile-friendly sites, Google indicates a turn in the tide on how we are using the internet in the digital age.

Google is predicting that the changes to its algorithm “will have a significant impact on our search results”. As the change will “affect mobile searches in all languages worldwide” … “users will find it easier to get relevant, high quality search results that are optimized for their devices”.

So is your site mobile-friendly enough to keep Google sweet?

You may already have a website which looks great on desktop, mobile and tablet devices. If you’re unsure, Google have provided this handy Mobile-Friendly Test which pretty much does what it says on the tin. You need only enter your website URL and click on the big blue ‘analyze’ button and you’ll find out just how mobile-friendly your website is.

You should hopefully be presented with a screen a little like this:

 If your site isn’t optimised for mobile yet, it’s time to get things moving (literally). Get in touch with us today to discuss how you can have a mobile friendly website.

Source: uk2.net