Here at Stride we’ve been touting the benefits of mobile-friendly designs for years, but now there’s an even better reason to upgrade your out-of-date website… Mobile-geddon.
Ok, all hyperbole aside, as of Tuesday, April 21st, Google’s search algorithm – the highly secretive method Google uses to rank websites in search results – will heavily factor a website’s mobile friendliness and load time into its search results pages for users on mobile devices and tablets.
What does this mean for your website?
If your site is an older one built for computer screens and not mobile devices, your site will be penalized in search-engine rankings. The penalty may be minor or major depending on how many of your customers are using mobile devices, the quality of your competitors’ sites, and several other factors.
How do I know if my site is mobile-friendly?
The easiest way to tell if your site is mobile-friendly – or responsive – is to visit it from a mobile device. If the site reformats to fit the screen nicely, with minimal or no scrolling to the left or right, theres a good chance your site has been built to adapt to the screen widths of various devices. To find out for sure, you can use Googles handy evaluation tool. If your site is well-constructed, you’ll get a screen like below, if not you should consider a site revamp.
What do I do if my site isn’t mobile-friendly?
Turn a negative into a positive. If your site isn’t mobile friendly, and your web analytics software is showing that you’re receiving less mobile traffic, it’s a good idea to look into having your website upgraded. In many cases a new site can dramatically enhance your search-engine rankings in general, but there are also many additional benefits including easier editing (Google LOVES fresh content on a regular basis), social media integration, improved design and usability, and many more.
Interested in finding out if your old website needs an upgrade? Contact Stride!
