Will Google’s Recent Algorithm Changes Hurt Your Site Traffic?

In case you haven’t heard, Google recently expanded its new mobile ranking algorithm (affectionately called “Mobilegeddon”) to all searchable websites, which could dramatically change how your site appears in Google’s search result pages for users on mobile devices. This new algorithm update gives priority to websites that are mobile-friendly and punishes those that require tapping/zooming and has unplayable media.

If your website is not mobile-friendly, this could have a significant impact on the ability for users to find your website. Google wants to serve mobile-friendly sites to users on mobile devices which means if your website is not mobile-friendly, your site will drop from Google’s mobile search results, resulting in loss of search engine to your website.

Google Mobile Friendly TestTo ensure your website is mobile-friendly (and not being penalized), you can take the following steps:

  1. Test your site – see how Googlebot views your pages on a mobile device by using the Mobile-Friendly Test tool – https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/mobile-friendly/
  2. Check Webmaster Tools – Get a full list of mobile usability issues across your site using the Mobile Usability Report located in your Google Webmaster Tools account.

If you are unsure about your next steps or how this may affect your site, we’d be happy to talk through your options, from a basic SEO upgrade to a mobile retrofit or a responsive redesign. We’d love to have a conversation, so feel free to contact us and make sure your site is ready for Mobilegeddon!