Google to Check Mobile Compatibility for Search

We all know that ranking well on Google for search terms related to your website and business can yield huge benefits in traffic and credibility. We also know that Google’s ranking algorithm is a Gordian knot of over 200 ranking factors all weighted together to determine our results for any given keyword or phrase. Google is quite secretive of the exact inner workings of their search algorithm, but has let slip glimpses from time to time. The company revealed that site loading speed was factored into rankings a while ago. Now the company reveals that a new indicator is being readied and will become active on April 21, 2015.

That new factor is the mobile compatibility of your website.

According to the official Google blog post describing the change, ”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.”

First off regardless of your hosting package – be it Reseller Hosting, Professional Hosting or any other hosting platform – to determine if your website is currently viewed by Google as ”mobile-friendly” you can test it using the Google mobile-friendly test. Unfortunately this tool will only test one page at a time. Therefore, it’s a good idea to test at least several of your main website pages for mobile friendliness.

What should you do if your website doesn’t pass the test? There is a good list of suggestions put together by startups.co.uk here: startups.co.uk/how-to-make-your-website-mobile-friendly.

Since no one but Google really knows the extent of the changes and how they will affect individual sites, pages and rankings – be sure to keep a close eye on your search rankings and site traffic before and after April 21. The good news is that every website will be subject to the same treatment and it is likely that further guides and tips will emerge quickly once the change has been rolled out.

34SP.com will be sure to update you with any information after April 21 that will give you clear direction on how to improve your Google search rankings based on this new mobile-friendly change.