Google To Devalue Non-Mobile Friendly Sites
Google's announcement that on April 21st, 2015 sites that were not Mobile Friendly would be experiencing a "significant" impact on how their sites were ranked wasn't much of a surprise was it? The more you heard about Responsive Design, the more you were attuned to the fact that Google, the king of the internet so to speak, was going to be knee deep in planning and making changes at SOME point. While most of us have been too lazy to upgrade our websites, or settled on our ranking; Web Programmers, Developers and Designers saw this coming, the fact is that they began to implement Responsive Web Design into their programming a long while ago. I always recommend Responsive Web Design as opposed to creating a mobile-version of the site, simply because going Responsive means that the site will look great on all screen sizes and resolutions. Three Birds, One Stone (PC, Tablet, Mobile).
Fair Warning? Maybe!
Here we are post April 21st and some of you are plugging in your keywords and saying to yourself "nope, I'm still ranking". Well, here's the thing, there are two separate index's. While you might very well be ranking on your desktop, you're probably not ranking in the same spot on your mobile phone. There are two different SERPS and the Mobile SERP is where you will likely see your rankings drop. If you take a quick second and plug your keywords into your mobile search, you might have noticed a drop already. If you haven't, rest assured that that drop is coming as we already know that Google has warned us about it.
Mobile Search Surpasses Desktop Search
Last year the world learned that Mobile Search had far surpassed PC Search for the first time in our internet history. Mobile phones are incredibly advanced, and easier to search from. Let's be honest, the mobile phones are attached to our hips at all times. You're taking them out and searching things in the middle of brunch with your friends. I myself am part of this statistic, I use my mobile to search for terms, shopping and whatever I feel the need to check on at a drop of a hat. Yes my friends, the Mobile SERP Revolution has begun. If you're site is not Mobile Friendly, you're going to want to make sure that it is and sooner, rather than later.
Save on Adwords and other PPC
Unless you plan on spending tons of money on AdWords and all sorts of PPC specialists, you'll need to consider updating your site or rebuilding it with Responsive Web Design. These are the facts! It can be something as easy as copying your site content over to a responsive template. Whatever your plan is, you need to get started on it if you've always enjoyed ranking. Pretty soon you'll be moving down a few notches on Mobile SERP and nobody can tell you how far as of now. One of my clients was 3rd on Page 1- PC SERP and in these last few days, she dropped a few notches on Mobile SERP.
70% of folks search on Mobile/80% of Companies are NOT Mobile Friendly
The interesting thing about this is that over 70% of folks use their phone to search for products and services on their Mobile Device. In contrast, about 80% of business owners and service providers DO NOT have mobile friendly websites. What does that tell you? Even more interesting is that up to 90% of those mobile users that search for products and services online, are more likely to convert into a customer when the site is mobile friendly. When you think about how much internet use has grown over the years, each year more growth than the one before it. You have got to admit that a huge chunk of that growth will be on Mobile. That small pocket, that 20% or so of companies and service providers that are already mobile friendly are experiencing exponential growth.
Yes, Google is Devaluing Websites that are not Mobile Friendly!
So yes, Google is devaluing websites that are not Mobile Friendly, but it's not the end of the world, there are a few options available to you on how to make your adjustments or upgrades. It will all depend on how you want to move forward. While I might suggest that you upgrade your site with a Responsive Design to make it more Mobile Friendly, other folks will tell you that Google's version or practice of what's Mobile Friendly may differ. Do your research, get your information directly from Google if you would like to learn more. For more advice, tips or assistance, feel free to leave a comment or contact me.
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