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Google’s latest update has caused quite a stir online, especially for those in the SEO & web design community. The update doesn’t have an official name at the moment (although Google may follow suit and name after a cute, unthreatening animal like previous updates – Panda and Penguin), which has allowed the media to spread panic by dubbing the update, “Mobilegeddon”. The fear instilling title comes from the marrying of “mobile” with “Armageddon”, and if you listen to press releases, the update will live up to its name and wreak havoc for small businesses that aren’t prepared.
If you’re worried that your site is going to disappear off the search engine radar and all your internet marketing efforts will have been in vain, here are our tips for surviving the update.
What Exactly is Google Mobilegeddon?
Google constantly changes its algorithm to improve the user experience of the search engine. Most of the time, we don’t hear about the proposed changes. However, this update-Google Mobilegeddon- has been well publicized, possibly to give site owners the chance to prepare. The changes will see any site that isn’t “mobile friendly” being down-rated in the search engines when the search is performed from a mobile device. Google’s own definition of mobile-friendly is:
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How Will This Change Affect My Business?
Whether this update has a dramatic effect on your business will depend on how people find your business online.
For example, say you are the owner of a mechanics garage with a website that relies heavily on on-page SEO as part of your internet marketing strategy. Your customers find your website by typing a certain keyword phrase into Google’s search bar, such as “Car Repair Your City”. When the term is searched for using a desktop computer, laptop or tablet, you find that your company’s website is the number one position in Google. However, if your site isn’t mobile friendly, you may find that your position is much lower in the rankings when a smartphone is used to search. With the majority of users clicking on the first few search results, if your business isn’t one of them, you could be seeing a significant drop in traffic to your site and customers through your door.
On the contrary, if your business doesn’t rely on search engines for traffic and gets visitors by the direct search for your sites URL or from links, then the Mobilegeddon update may not affect you. However, although you may not rely on search engine traffic, improving your site’s performance is always a good practice, especially if you plan to employ different internet marketing techniques to grow your business at a later date.
Is My Website Mobile Friendly?
Google has provided the Mobile-Friendly Test as an easy way to check the mobile-friendliness of your site. Simply enter the URL of your website and the test will determine if life goes on as normal, or it’s all over for your website (just kidding, there’s a fix to the problem – see below).
What If My Site Isn’t Mobile Friendly?
Don’t worry, your website won’t be banished to the nether regions of the internet never to be seen again. And as stated above, if your site isn’t heavily reliant on search engine traffic, you won’t be adversely affected and you will have time to fix it. The solution is to redevelop your site so that it is fully responsive. If you are on a Content Management System (CMS), such as WordPress, this may be as simple as upgrading to a mobile responsive theme. However, if you’re not tech savvy you may have to enlist the services of a web developer to upgrade your CMS or to completely re-build a fully responsive site for your business.
Need Help With Your Internet Marketing?
If you’re worried about how this update is going to affect your business, then contact the internet marketing professionals at IMPROZ. We are an internet marketing company based in Houston Texas that provide innovative solutions for our clients to help with their SEO, website design, social media and pay per click campaigns.
