Google: Mobile-Friendly Design Has ‘Significant Impact' on SEO

https://www.paveya.com/google-mobile-friendly-design-has-significant-impact-on-search-results/

Over the past year, Google has stated several times that your website’s mobile friendliness is becoming more and more important to your company’s search engine rankings. In January 2015, Google even began sending alerts to companies with non-mobile websites via notifications in Google Webmaster Tools. Yesterday, they said it again. This time, they stated it will have a “significant impact” on search results.

What Did Google Say?

Here is the most important part of yesterday’s announcement, which Google posted on their Google Webmaster Central Blog.

“Starting April 21, we will be expanding our use of mobile-friendliness as a ranking signal. This change will affect mobile searches in all languages worldwide and will have a significant impact in our search results. Consequently, users will find it easier to get relevant, high quality search results that are optimized for their devices.

To get help with making a mobile-friendly site, check out our guide to mobile-friendly sites. If you’re a webmaster, you can get ready for this change by using the following tools to see how Googlebot views your pages:

If you want to test a few pages, you can use the Mobile-Friendly Test.
If you have a site, you can use your Webmaster Tools account to get a full list of mobile usability issues across your site using the Mobile Usability Report.”

Why Is this Announcement Important?

When Google reveals one of the more than 200 factors that make up their ranking algorithm, it’s important to pay attention. When they state it over and over again, you know they mean business. So, the bottom line is, if your website isn’t mobile friendly, you should take steps to make it so – and soon!

What Should You Do?

As Google states in their announcement, check to see if your website is mobile friendly using their mobile-friendly test tool, and review their brief guide to mobile-friendly sites. If your site is not mobile friendly, talk to your company’s web developer and make a plan with him or her to update your website so that it’s mobile friendly. If you don’t have a web developer, we invite you to email us or call us at 855-372-8392. We’ll be happy to answer questions and review your options for an effective and economical mobile-friendly website design.