Last year was the year mobile internet usage surpassed desktop, and even if you didn’t notice, Google most certainly did. The search engine has confirmed what we all knew was coming; making sure that your site is mobile-friendly is more important now than ever.
Beginning April 21, Google’s search algorithm will reflect significant changes to their mobile search rankings. It will now consider a site’s mobile-friendliness as one of its ranking signals, building on its mobile ranking demotion algorithm launched in 2013.“As more people use mobile devices to access the internet, our algorithms have to adapt to these usage patterns,” Google explained in their announcement. The company adds that “users will find it easier to get relevant, high quality search results that are optimized for their devices.”Google further said that starting right now, apps that are indexed by Google through App Indexing will begin to rank better in mobile search. Google said this only will work for signed-in users who have the app installed on their mobile devices, which means only Android apps today. Google explained this “may now surface content from indexed apps more prominently in search.”
Implementation is not immediate, and the internet gods have taken pity on us, giving everyone a couple of months to ensure that their sites are fully optimized. The fact that Google is giving everyone so much time to adjust to the new mobile-friendly requirement goes to show that they mean business. This WILL be a major change to the face of search.
So how can you tell if your site is up to Google’s new mobile-friendly standards?To ensure that your site is prepared for the roll out, check out Google’s mobile friendly testing tool, and read more about Google’s mobile guidelines here.If you have any questions about your site and how the mobile-friendly guidelines will affect you, don’t hesitate to ask the Screen Pilot team. After all, that’s what we’re here for.
Last year was the year mobile internet usage surpassed desktop, and even if you didn’t notice, Google most certainly did. The search engine has confirmed what we all knew was coming; making sure that your site is mobile-friendly is more important now than ever.
Beginning April 21, Google’s search algorithm will reflect significant changes to their mobile search rankings. It will now consider a site’s mobile-friendliness as one of its ranking signals, building on its mobile ranking demotion algorithm launched in 2013.“As more people use mobile devices to access the internet, our algorithms have to adapt to these usage patterns,” Google explained in their announcement. The company adds that “users will find it easier to get relevant, high quality search results that are optimized for their devices.”Google further said that starting right now, apps that are indexed by Google through App Indexing will begin to rank better in mobile search. Google said this only will work for signed-in users who have the app installed on their mobile devices, which means only Android apps today. Google explained this “may now surface content from indexed apps more prominently in search.”
Implementation is not immediate, and the internet gods have taken pity on us, giving everyone a couple of months to ensure that their sites are fully optimized. The fact that Google is giving everyone so much time to adjust to the new mobile-friendly requirement goes to show that they mean business. This WILL be a major change to the face of search.
So how can you tell if your site is up to Google’s new mobile-friendly standards?To ensure that your site is prepared for the roll out, check out Google’s mobile friendly testing tool, and read more about Google’s mobile guidelines here.If you have any questions about your site and how the mobile-friendly guidelines will affect you, don’t hesitate to ask the Screen Pilot team. After all, that’s what we’re here for.
