Googlegeddon: If your website is not mobile-friendly, you are losing customers
They're at it again. Starting today, April 21st Google are changing the algorithm that is used to create search results. The most important change is what has become known as "Googlegeddon": namely, if your website is not optimised for mobile devices, Google will rank it lower than websites that are.
Mobile-first design and responsive design are no longer just buzzwords; they are now mission-critical business decisions. If your website is not ready for mobile, your search engine optimisation (SEO) is going to go down. This means you are going to lose search engine rankings, site visitors and, ultimately, customers (read "money").
Google considers a website to be mobile friendly if "text is readable without tapping or zooming, tap targets are spaced appropriately, and the page avoids unplayable content or horizontal scrolling". In simple terms, users should be able to clearly read your text on small screens; if they need to click on something (like a menu item), they don't hit a different one by accident because they are too close together; you don't have content within your web design that cannot be played on a mobile device (such as content developed using Flash); and that the user does not have to move left and right to see content (for example, if an image does not fit within the screen dimensions).
A simple way to check if your site is affected by this is to use Google's "Mobile Friendly" tool. If your website does not pass this test, get in contact with us and we will give you advice on how to optimise your website for mobile visitors.
Mark Conroy Director of Development
When not promoting sustainable front-end practices at conferences across Europe, Mark leads our development team to create ambitious digital experiences for clients, so they, in turn, can have success with their clients.
