November 18, 2104 Google announced that they have introduced mobile friendly labels in to mobile search. This means that people browsing the web on a mobile device will see a little “mobile friendly” notice beside them. This is what it looks like on my Andoid phone:
As you can see, of the top 4 personal injury attorneys in my search, 3 have mobile friendly sites.
Does Having a Mobile Site Help SEO?
Yes, and here’s why.
Google wants one thing for their users, a good user experience. This means taking people to a good resource. In their announcement they accurately describe websites that are not mobile friendly as “frustrating”. In order to keep users happy, Google will soon be forced to decrease rankings for websites that are not mobile friendly.
Studies have shown that around 91% of mobile users will leave your website if it doesn’t meet their needs. The time people spend on your website can affect rankings. If you do not have this “Mobile-friendly” label beside your site in mobile search, people are going to avoid your website.
Testing Your Current Website:
If you are not sure if your current site is mobile friendly, there are some tools available for you to test it with. See the references section at the bottom of this page for links to these tools. You can also pull out your phone and take a look for yourself. Google it and see if you have the “mobile-friendly” label. Also, use your siteand see if it actually works great on a phone. If it doesn’t, you’re upsetting and scaring off over half of your users.
Getting a Mobile-Friendly Website:
The solution (for most professionals and small businesses) is simple. If you plan on adding content to your site, updating it, or hiring a content writer, you need a WordPress website with a responsive theme. These start at $0 if you can DIY. We offer a very quick and dirty 48hr WordPress Website, see the references section below of more information on that.
For Reference:
- Google’s Official Announcement.
- Telapost’s Responsive Website Design page.
- My March 2014 Article: Why Websites that are not mobile friendly should be penalized.
- Google’s Mobile Friendly Testing Page (test any site).
- Google’s Mobile Usability Report (requires WMT login).
- 91% of consumers surveyed will turn to a rival brand if mobile site inadequate: Netbiscuits.
- Google “Pure Spam” Penalty Deindexes Sites March 6 2024 - March 12, 2024
- What Happened to ChicagoNow.com? - August 30, 2022
- The December 2021 Google Local Pack Algorithm Update - December 17, 2021
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