How Much Traffic Will You Lose From The Upcoming Mobile Algorithm Change
Google announced that it will be releasing an update on April 21st: “Starting April 21, we will be expanding our use of mobile-friendliness as a ranking signal. This change will affect mobile searches in all languages worldwide and will have a significant impact in our search results.”
Go Mobile or Lose Traffic
Google intends to reward mobile-friendly websites with better rankings in mobile search. Likewise, websites that are not mobile-friendly may very well experience a dramatic decline in mobile rankings. Can your business afford to loose that traffic?
Use our Mobile Phone Website Emulator to check whether your website is mobile optimised.
Google Webmaster Tools : Fix Mobile Usability
Some of you may even have received emails from Google Webmaster Tools about mobile usability issues – see the image below:
Goolge’s Gary Illyes has shared some few details about what Google will be looking for:
- Responsive design does not have a ranking benefit
- Googlebot must be allowed to crawl CSS & JavaScript to pass the “mobile-friendly” test
- Mobile friendliness is determined at the page level – not sitewide
- Tablets will not be affected by this update
- Google is currently working on a dedicated mobile index
Mobile Website : The Options
There are generally two options that you have when you want a mobile friendly website:
- A dedicated Mobile Website
- a Responsive Website
Which Option is Best?
So which type of website is best? Below are the highlights of both types of sites:
Pros of Dedicated Mobile Sites:
- Can be customised for mobile users
- Should be the most mobile-friendly version of a site
- Easier and cheaper to design
Cons of Mobile Sites:
- Recurring (monthly) maintenance
- Higher costs for updating the content of multiple websites
- May need to be reworked to meet future browsers
Pros of Responsive Web Design:
- Highly flexible – one responsive website works on all devices, so only one site has to be created and maintained
- This is Google’s recommended configuration
- Can be a better return on investment since most responsive sites won’t need much future maintenance to comply with new browsers
Cons of Responsive Web Design:
- More expensive upfront cost
- Doesn’t convert as well
Need a Mobile Friendly Website?
Check out our Mobile Website Design page or contact Blue Square Management today on 01689 602 248 or email us.
Original article: here
