Google Loves Mobile Websites: Optimize or Lose Ranking
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12 Feb Google Loves Mobile Websites: Optimize or Lose Ranking!

Posted at 00:34h in Mobile, UX by

The Internet is Officially Mobile

The majority of internet users are no longer tied to desktop computers. In 2011 just 31% of web traffic was generated by mobile devices. According to comScore (a digital trends research firm), mobile usage currently represents over 60% of all web traffic—an increase of nearly 200% in just over three years.

This massive shift makes capitalizing on mobile search results essential for businesses. But how do you conquer mobile search? By pleasing the biggest search engine in the world: Google.

Google Loves Mobile Web Traffic

ComScore reports that 48% of mobile web users start at popular search engines (the vast majority choosing Google). During any given month it represents nearly half of all the people using the site.*

Google is also adamant about delivering a good user experience. All of its recent algorithms changes have been designed to provide better search results. What will happen to your website when Google decides to add more weight to the mobile-friendliness ranking factor?

In short, if your website isn’t optimized for mobile it needs to be. (Not sure? You can check with Google’s own Mobile-Friendly Tester. It isn’t 100% accurate but it’s a good place to start.)

Google Will Soon Penalize Non-Optimized Websites

In late January of 2015, Google sent notifications to webmasters of sites that weren’t mobile optimized. These thinly veiled warnings stated that non-optimized pages “. . . . will not be seen as mobile-friendly by Google Search, and will therefore be displayed and ranked appropriately for smartphone users.”

google_mobile_website_penalize

Think you can survive after being penalized by Google? A recent Moz.com study shows over 73% of Google’s users never scroll past the first page of results. If your site isn’t there, it’s not likely you will receive many clicks.

How Do You Fix the Problem?

The first decision you have to make is do you build a dedicated mobile website or a responsive one?

Dedicated mobile sites must be hosted, maintained, and updated separately from your current website. This often means added expense, effort, and opportunities for errors.

Responsive websites are designed to alter how they’re displayed depending on the type of device the visitor is using—like two websites in one! In other words all your content is accessible across multiple devices, allowing you to delivering a seamless “full-feature” experience to the end user. You can save money and reduce the effort it takes to maintain your site significantly while still presenting a mobile-friendly face.

We Can Help

Not sure where to start? Results IS can help you avoid losing rank in Google’s mobile search results and keep that steady flow of web traffic coming. We can convert your existing website to a responsive design or help you update your website using a responsive template while keeping all your current SEO intact.

Contact us today or call to schedule a consultation.

*according to data collected by SimilarWeb

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