Will Google’s Mobilegeddon toss your website out of search rankings?
Google is all set to make a big move on April 21, 2015. Termed as Mobilegeddon, there will be a change in the mobile search algorithm, wherein mobile-friendly websites will be better ranked than the ones that are not.
The move is expected to push around 40% websites down the search ranking. How will the update impact your search results?
During the Search Marketing Expo held last month, industry experts entirely focused on Google’s Mobilegeddon and shared their insights.
“Mobile, mobile, mobile, I want to grab every website designer and tell them mobile is the thing! It’s the only thing!” says Kelly Wrather, Senior Manager at Kenshoo.
“Websites that aren’t mobile-friendly will see a more negative impact in search visibility than they may already be seeing, and mobile-optimized sites may be rewarded even greater in search rankings,” shared DeMers.
Last summers, Google had issued recommendations for websites that were not configured for smartphones. Websites tend to have partially mobile-friendly websites and users are redirected to website pages that either they are not looking for or the mobile-friendly homepage of a website. At times, users also come across error messages on clicking on search results. Some websites, now, will have to brace up and take mobile-friendliness for their entire website very seriously.
Thomas Petty, President, Bay Area Search Engine Academy, cited that if pages on a specific site are mobile-aware and others aren’t, those with the mobile-friendly design will get a boost on mobile searches. Google will give an instant boost to pages that are mobile-aware.
With the algorithm change and aim to give ‘relevant’ results to mobile users, Google will rank mobile-friendly websites higher. Also, apps that are indexed using the Google App Indexing technique will experience a higher ranking. For example, if you are logged into your Google account through your smartphone, the content within your apps will be rated higher as far as search results are concerned.
With inputs from participants of Search Marketing Expo
Test if your website is mobile-friendly, right away.
Want to prepare for the change? Get in touch with an expert.
By: Meenakshi Vashisht