If you want to be with Google, you’ve got to get with the phones.
No, that’s not a terrible attempt to make a play on the most famous song from a particular all-girl singing group from the 1990s; okay, it is, but there’s a reason for that. It’s time to stop making websites like it’s nineteen-ninety— enough with the terrible turn of the century pop, already.
My point is, it’s time to start thinking mobile-first.
Gone are the days of designing for the web, and adapting for mobile.
Google has decreed, and it is so:
These are the days of mobile-friendly website development.
As of April 21 — so, a little more than a month ago — Google has “[expanded their] 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.”
What does that mean for you, and your website, and how it relates to mobile search?
Basically, if you want to be found by Google, your site has to be mobile friendly.
There are no two ways around it.
What is a mobile-friendly website?
As far as Google is concerned, there are three acceptable types of mobile-friendly websites: Those that benefit from responsive web design; those with dynamic serving capabilities; and those that have separate URLs entirely. Each is different, and boasts its own, unique URL structure and HTML coding, but the one thing they all have in common is this:
All mobile-friendly sites are intended to achieve the ideal user experience.
Three are acceptable, but only one is #1 in Google’s eyes, and that’s the first: responsive web design. It’s the most popular, and the most desirable because where the others require the creation of copies, a responsively designed website allows users to visit only one URL, ever; the website adapts, not the other way around.
“How can I tell if my website is mobile-friendly?”
Luckily for you, and for your website, Google wants you to succeed.
Alongside this new ranking algorithm the search engine giant has released an addition to its Webmaster Tools, just for measuring your website’s mobile friendliness. Access this Mobile Usability tool (found in Webmaster Tools nested within Search Traffic), and Google will analyze your site; and provide thorough feedback regarding any issues, where the issues lie, and how to resolve them.
Found your website isn’t all that mobile-friendly?
Innolance can help. Contact our experienced team of website and mobile application developers today, and let’s talk about how to improve the mobile-friendliness of your website.