Google Algorithm Update - Mobile Friendly Websites Given Preference In Search

From 21st April 2015 Google will be launching its latest algorithm update that will make it easier for users to find websites (on mobile devices) that are deemed to be “mobile friendly”. If your website isn’t optimised for mobile devices, you could see a significant drop in rankings and traffic.

The change is going to be implemented across the world in an attempt to favour websites that are easy to navigate on a mobile device. While we’ve been hearing for years how important mobile search is, it’s still surprising how many businesses haven’t fully addressed the issue.

A recent crawl of the top 25,000 websites found that 40% are NOT mobile friendly. After 21st April these sites are likely to have their results pushed down the rankings in order to provide a better user experience. Considering these top 25,000 sites are likely to include organisations with the largest resources and development budgets, there is still a lot of work to be done to cater for the growing use of mobile search.

In 2014, the global population passed the tipping point where internet usage on mobile devices overtook the more traditional desktop. With 80% of internet users owning a smartphone the trend looks set to increase and the mobile search landscape will become even more important over the coming years.

How Consumers Research Products Using Mobile

Google’s mobile path to purchase report surveyed 950 consumers across a number of vertical markets including restaurants, finance, travel and retail. They found that the search engines were the most common starting point for product research on a mobile with 48%, followed by branded websites (33%) and branded apps (26%).

Why Is Google Doing This?

The first reason is simply to provide a better user experience. With so many websites being difficult to navigate on phone, it makes sense to favour those that provide clear and easy to read content.

It’s also important to consider that the future of mobile search will not only be limited to the rankings of a website. The next stage for the internet and particularly mobile search is going to be heavily influenced by new technology. Google Glass and the various smart watches already on sale, while very appealing, have a significant restriction. Without the use of a keyboard to conduct your search a user is limited to voice recognition (which unfortunately makes you look a character on Star Trek) and predictive search.

By tracking your behaviour across Google Maps, Gmail, Google Play, Google Now and all the other Google products, the search engines can suggest which websites and information is relevant to a user based on their previous activity. For a business, how you’ve set up your mobile search strategy will determine how your customers find you on mobile devices and what specific information is displayed; and it may not always be your website.

For example you can now “markup” emails that you’ve sent to a customer allowing the information to be displayed in the search results of a mobile phone (above). The premise is that in order to find information relevant to a user, they won’t have to try and find it, but will simply be presented with the information.

The new update is likely to include more app placements within the search results and potentially an increased number of pay per click ads that all contribute towards taking up valuable mobile real estate ensuring it will be more difficult to stand out from the competition. If you haven’t already optimised your site, 2015 may be a great time to include mobile as part of your digital strategy.

You can find out your own websites mobile friendly criteria by using this free tool provided by Google.