Insight

Google update on 21st April

It’s now even more important to ensure your website is mobile-friendly.

As of Tuesday, April 21st, Google is expanding its use of mobile-friendliness as a ranking signal, so will give priority to websites which work well when accessed from mobile devices. Tablets are excluded from this latest update, but don’t be surprised if they follow in due course.

The company says the change will ‘have a significant impact in our search results’.  They say the aim is to make it easier to get relevant, high quality search results that are optimised for mobile devices.

Over the last couple of years, ‘mobile first’ has become a well-worn phrase in the web design industry.  It’s estimated that on average, a third of all web visits are now made from mobile devices.

You may have already noticed that Google has begun to indicate in search results whether a site is mobile-friendly, so this latest update hasn’t come as a surprise.

If your site is already optimised for mobile access, this latest algorithmic change could help your Google rankings, giving you advantage of competitors who have been slow to tune in to the rising use of mobile devices to access websites.

If your site isn’t yet mobile-friendly, perhaps this move by Google is the spur you need to build the business case for adapting your site.

Google will check your site’s mobile-friendliness on a page-by-page basis, so it’s worth checking Webmaster Tools where you can access a full list of mobile usability issues across your site (or we can help you with a website audit).

It’s worth noting that small text and Flash video will cause a problem for your mobile-friendly rating, and Google will take into account loading time when ranking your site.

For further information or advice, please get in touch.