It’s no big news that being mobile-friendly is a must-have usability feature for your website. With so many people viewing your web page on tablets or smartphones, you want to offer them the best browsing experience.

But did you know that mobile compatibility can also affect your search rankings? Even more, with a major Google update coming up, mobile friendliness will become one of the key factors that influence both mobile and desktop rankings your website gets. If you are still not prepare for the April 21st deadline, already known as ‘Mobilegeddon’, it’s high time to start.

What Is the ‘Mobilegeddon’ About?

Google is planning to update its algorithms to provide higher rankings for those websites that offer the best mobile user experience. According to Google’s Webmaster Trends team, the new algorithm update, scheduled for April 21st, will have even more impact on search rankings that Panda or Penguin did. What exactly that impact will be is not clear yet, but it’s safe to assume that websites. Not optimized for mobile search, can get serious drops in their search engine rankings.

Why the Mobile-Focused Algorithm Update?

Stats say more than 60% of all search is now done on mobile devices. Naturally, Google wants to optimize the search experience for this growing population and give preference to websites that are prepared for mobile viewing.

How Can You Prepare?

If you have been putting off making your website mobile-compatible, now is the time to do it. Here are you key steps to take.

  1. Implement responsive design for your website, or develop a separate version for mobile users. Both options are acceptable for Google, as long as you provide uninterrupted experience for the mobile users.
  2. If you already have a mobile version of your website, test it carefully to ensure the navigation works properly, and every page is displayed correctly. It’s not enough to have a mobile-compatible version: it needs to be active, working, and indexable.

There are two Google tools that help you check your website’s mobile compatibility. Whether or not these tools cover all factors the ‘Mobilegeddon’ update will include. You still get a pretty good idea of your site’s compliance with Google’s mobile policies.

Mobile-Friendly Test: this quick test lets you check whether your website meets Google’s initial qualifications for mobile compatibility.

Mobile Usability Report: this is a report you can run in Google Webmaster Tools. Test your website and get a list of discrepancies and errors – you still have time till April 21st to fix them.

Looks like Google’s upcoming update will make a huge difference in the way websites are rank. Basically, like all Google’s updates, this one is focused on making user experience with Google search and browsing websites better. So, make sure you operate your website with the same goal in mind, and you’re safe to survive the ‘Mobilegeddon’.

Contact us for more information about making your website mobile friendly at 727-776-5961.