The Urgent Need for Responsive Design
We’ve been pushing responsive website design for quite a while. It just makes sense to us that a business should provide a user-friendly experience for their website, regardless of the device it’s being accessed from. Well, now a mobile friendly design is more than just a courtesy; it has become a crucial element for any website’s survival and success…and a detriment to those that do not comply.
What’s the big deal?
In February, for the first time ever, Google made this announcement: 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.
Basically, this means that websites currently accessible and easily navigable on mobile devices will receive a boost in Google’s page ranking and those that are not designed with the mobile user in mind will suffer a hit.
While Google’s announcements typically come after changes have already taken effect (or with little warning), this announcement was made nearly 2 months prior to the algorithm’s effective date, providing us plenty of time to make the necessary adjustments…and stressing the importance and potential impact of this update.
Will Google’s New Mobile-Friendly Search Rank Algorithm Affect Your Site?
In a word…YES.
This will affect all websites. Even if your site happens to receive very little mobile traffic, your ranking is likely to fall if you’re not mobile-friendly.
If you are not sure about the current state of your website, Google offers this test.
If you find yourself in need of an update or redesign, contact us and let us put your ranking worries to rest.