The Pure SEO Team
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Google is all about giving searchers what they want and because more people now than ever are searching using mobile devices, it prioritises sites that have a good mobile user experience.
They made it official, announcing they had been experimenting with a new mobile ranking algorithm in November last year. Alerts went out to a large number of webmasters letting them know that Google will be placing increasing importance on mobile responsive websites.
Google will penalise websites that aren’t mobile-friendly and reward those that offer a better user-experience. So don’t get penalised, find out how to get proactive!
What is mobile optimisation?
The easiest way to tell the difference between an optimised and non-optimised site, is whether you can read all the tabs and use all the elements on both screens. Some sites retain the desktop screen format which just doesn’t work well on devices – un-friendly.
There are three ways websites can adapt to suit devices:
- Separate URLSs – where the is a completely different mobile version of the site (and that URL will have an ‘.m’ before the ‘http’ address)
- Responsive web design – this uses the same code (HTML) as the standard page but there is a separate design (CSS) used to layout the site for devices.
- Or dynamic serving, where the server sends different code (HTML) and designs (CSS) on the same URL depending on which device is being used to search and the site alters the code behind the scenes.
If your site isn’t optimised for mobile ultimately it will be harder to use on a smaller screen but you can make it is easy to use on tablets and smartphones.
Why optimise for mobile?
It’s no secret that mobile device users are changing the landscape of online businesses, especially the way retail brands engage with potential customers. According to a survey by leading mobile audience intelligence surveyors NinthDecimal, 45 per cent of purchase decisions were made on a smartphone and 16 per cent on a tablet in 2014. About 69 per cent of consumers now do research on a device before a shopping trip.
There are some even more compelling reasons why you would want to make sure your site is accessible on call devices.
Because mobile optimisation is also a ranking factor for Google, you will be positioned higher in search results. A higher ranking means a better click-through-rate (CTR), higher visitor numbers and more customer conversions. In this game of percentages the more people who visit your site the better the chance that one of them becomes a customer.
Consumers place a lot of importance on the mobile user experience as well. According to Digby a location marketing expert business, 57 per cent of consumers in United States will not recommend a business with a poorly designed mobile site and four out of five consumers use smartphones to shop. Those numbers should be enough to convince you to call your developer today.
There are lots of ways you can make a website more ‘mobile friendly’. Check out Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test Tool.
Run a quick audit of your site pages using the tool and the information on Google’s site and see what you can do to improve your site. Some common issues that are easy to fix are:
- Setting your mobile viewpoint
- Using compatible plugins (Flash)
- Changing the text size
Improving these and other areas can make a huge difference to your website. Once it is mobile-friendly, you will be able to see an increase in visitors, a better click-through rate and most importantly higher rankings in Google search results.
Check out Pure SEOs Google ranking as an example of what we mean here – we know what we are talking about.
We sit at the top of organic search results because our website is mobile-friendly and well optimised.
The little ‘mobile-friendly’ tag beneath the URL is the ticket to a higher SEO ranking. So get mobile, get optimised improve your user experience and rank higher today!
