Google’s New Algorithm Update: Is Your Website Ready?
Google announced that starting April 21, 2015 their newest search engine algorithm update will go into effect. While they are constantly making updates (some major and require the names of cute animals like Panda and Penguin, some minor that you don’t really hear about) this one is sure to have a huge impact — even though it isn’t getting a name. Google says, “This change…will have a significant impact in our search results.”
What is the New Google Algorithm Update?
Google’s new update is purely focused on the mobile-friendliness of a website. You may have noticed while doing Google searches on your smart phone, it tells you if a website is mobile-friendly. Now, with this update, it will affect your website’s actual Google search ranking on mobile devices. If your website is not mobile-friendly, prepare to see a drop in rankings from users on smart phones.
While this change will not have an immediate effect on desktop or tablet searches, your rankings will be affected. How? If your website is not mobile-friendly, and you drop in rankings on smart phones, you lose visitors. Less visitors = drop in rankings everywhere, no matter what people are using to search on Google. You will not see a drop in rankings on desktop immediately, but be prepared.
How do You Prepare?
With the rise of smart phone users, combined with this new Google algorithm update, the answer is obvious — You need a mobile-friendly website. And you need it quick before you drop so far in rankings that you can’t recover unless you have an abundance of time, patience, and money to spare.
If you already have a mobile website, you can check the mobile-friendliness of your web pages by using Google’s Mobile Friendly Test. If you have Google Webmaster Tools set up, you can use it to get a Mobile Usability report for your website pages.
Google also announced that starting Feb. 26, indexed App content will also have an effect on search rankings. Read more about that here.