Are You Failing The Google Mobile Friendly Test
Are you ready to run a Google mobile friendly test on your small business website? In case you missed the news, Google is launching an updated algorithm that ranks a page’s mobile friendliness and includes that information in page ranking. In light of this information, right now is the time to test your site’s mobile friendliness.
In short, when each of your pages is crawled by Google, the algorithm will take into consideration whether the page is optimized for hand held devices. Pages Google considers mobile friendly will enjoy a better slot in the rankings.
So what does this mean for your websites? It means you have until the launch date, April 21, to make sure your site is set up for mobile devices. That’s when the new algorithm will be activated. So ideally, each page of your website should be mobile-optimized by that deadline. This will help you maximize your search results with the new algorithm.
Of course, you could update your website anytime that works for you. But staying ahead of the pack and getting it done by April 21 ensures your rankings won’t take a hit when the new algorithm is active.
How to Conduct a Google Mobile Friendly Test
Ready to get started? Your first step should be to conduct a Google mobile friendly test on each of your web pages. Google has made this process super easy. Just enter a URL into the box, and it will tell you if the page is already mobile friendly according to Google’s standards. After testing each page, you’ll know right away which ones need some work, and which pages are good to go.
Once you know which pages need some help to become mobile friendly, the website design work can begin. Keeping in mind that about a billion people worldwide primarily access the internet on handheld devices, the layout should look sleek and uncluttered. All text and graphics should be fully visible on any size screen. Buttons, links, and forms should be accessible on every kind of device.
When it comes to creating an excellent experience for mobile users, there are three basic options:
- Sometimes, updating an existing website to be mobile-friendly is a viable option. For basic websites, a simple layout with large buttons and fonts can transpose to a mobile device quite nicely.
- Building a separate mobile site that runs parallel to the traditional site is often a better choice. A dedicated mobile site is usually more responsive than a tweaked traditional website. However, sections and features of the original website are often missing from mobile sites because of the shortcomings of the mobile design options.
- Some of the very best user experiences are created when adaptive or responsive design is used to build the website. Adaptive design detects what type of device a user is on and generates a display that’s ideal for that device. Responsive design also identifies the device being used and adjusts the display to fit the device’s capabilities.
If website design is not your area of expertise, you will benefit greatly by hiring a web design pro to make your websites mobile-friendly. For expert help that guarantees your websites will pass the Google mobile friendly test and are best optimized for search engines, email us or call PersistSEO today at 770.580.3736.