Google’s new search algorithm update for mobile devices is now live. Make sure you are abiding by Google’s guidelines in order to keep your Melbourne FL SEO intact.
Many SEO experts believe the impact of this update will be greater than that caused by other updates such as Panda and Penguin. It is not for nothing that many professionals are already calling this update mobilegeddon – or, in other words, the mobile apocalypse.
This update is all about creating friendly navigation to mobile devices in Google’s search results. Some time ago, Google came with similar points to affect ranking results for mobile devices, but now this is the real deal.
In fact, from the past year alone searches for the keyword “furniture” were already displaying “for mobile” to show mobile responsive sites in its results.
But the fact is that from this month on, Google will be more rigorous with this update in their assessments accordingly. And there is no middle ground in this update for Google. Either a website is mobile friendly or not.
- To fit the positive category, a site must meet a range of requirements already released by Google, such as:
- Avoiding using software that are not common in mobile devices such as Flash.
- Use readable text without users having to zoom.
- Scale text at the screen size level, without the user having to zoom or scroll horizontally across the screen.
- Distancing links enough that the user can click on them without confusion.
Google also provides an online tool for you to place your website in it and find out if it is friendly to mobile devices or not. Just click and evaluate your site here.
How Will This Affect Me?
This update will only affect the page level. For example, if a site has ten pages and five of them are mobile friendly and the other five not, the five that are can rank, since the other five that are not can lose their ranking positions in the results for mobile search. This happens independently without influencing the result of a page on another.
The update happens in real time, that is, if a page has become friendly to mobile devices recently, it is already considered mobile friendly next time that Google re-indexes it.
This update does not interfere with anything in searches via desktop, it only influences the results shown in Google mobile search.
Indexing Applications
The sites that have mobile applications indexed to the search results may also gain some points with this April’s update. This ranking will only work for users who have the application installed and are logged in when they do mobile search.
For example, a user who has an application installed, and is logged in to it, makes a mobile search for its related term. If that app has some connection with the searched term, then it may appear better positioned in the results for that particular search the user made.
Which Is Best? Sites Specific For Mobile Or Responsive Design?
The best option for those who want to rank well in the mobile arena is certainly to invest in a mobile friendly web design. It is not known for sure (and maybe not even later, given the privacies of algorithms) but it seems that responsive design will have priority over the other mobile specific design.
However, even before the changes occur, responsive design is presented as the best option since there is no URL redirection or change in HTML. In addition, it ensures the same browsing experience for all users, regardless of the device by which they access a page.
