Google Prioritizes Mobile-Friendly Sites in Ranking: Ensure Your Website Adapts

Google, the tech giant is set to revolutionize its ranking system by favoring mobile-friendly websites. To ascertain if your webpage is compatible with this new update, you can utilize Google’s online mobile compatibility tool accessible here. This looming event, colloquially termed as the search engine “Armageddon” or, more pithily, ‘Mobilegeddon’ by renowned platform, Search Engine Land, will likely make significant waves in the digital ocean.

The ripple effect of this new digitized age could potentially mean that even the best-positioned websites could witness a decline in their rankings. Moreover, it may substantially influence businesses, with current reports indicating that almost 40% of leading websites are not yet mobile-friendly.

One perspective fueling this debate is the ever-growing number of mobile users accessing their favorite webpages via their handheld devices. It only makes sense that providers prioritize smooth, quick-loading sites to enhance the user experience.

Set to be implemented from the 21st of April, 2015, the question posed by many is how their sites can be modified to become mobile-friendly should they fail the Google test. Here are some practical steps, initially outlined by USAToday, that you can undertake to make the transition smoother:

• Contact your local website host. Many have tools in place to make the transition smoother. For example, GoDaddy, a top provider of website addresses and hosting, offers a tool to completely rebuild your website to make it mobile friendly, with a minimal charge of $1 monthly for the service. Similarly, competitor Bluehost has a potentially less time-consuming and cheaper alternative. For a one-time fee of $25, Bluehost’s goMobi tool can build a compact, mobile version of your site.
• Utilize a service like DudaMobile to create a more dynamic, albeit smaller version of your website, with a greater incorporation of images and text than conventional website builders, starting at $5 monthly.
• Consider hiring a local webmaster, perhaps via platforms like Craigslist and other local forums to outsource the work. This could help maintain the look and feel of your original desktop website on the mobile version.

Preparation is key as we stand on the precipice of a new digital era coined by Google’s imminent Mobilegeddon. It’s high time that web-developers and businesses gear up to adapt and thrive in the mobile-first world.

Image source: Search engine land

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