By David Evans, PhD, MBA
For years Google has hinted that mobile-compatible websites will receive a ranking boost for? searches performed on mobile devices.
Recently, the search giant made its stance official.
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.
Google’s announcement (featured above) is somewhat obtuse. It is unclear whether mobile-friendliness will extend ?to desktop searches, non-mobile-friendly areas of a website and/or searches on tablet devices.
It seems safe to assume that, given this unprecedented announcement by Google, the rankings of non-mobile-?friendly websites will drop for searches on smart phones starting April 21, 2015.
You are clearly against the clock if you or your Internet company has not taken steps to make your site more responsive.
Your first step needs to be to visit Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test Page to see how your site stands up.
Some websites or blogs use a content management system (CMS) such as WordPress. These systems sometimes have a “responsive” theme or plugin/module that you can use on a short-term basis. Others will need to discuss these changes with their Web marketing team to make sure that there is a plan in place. Most Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Search Engine Marketing (SEM) companies have been toiling away at client’s sites since the big announcement came some the pike.
David Evans, PhD, MBA, is the CEO of Ceatus Media Group, based in San Diego. His column, “The Edge,” appears in every issue of Plastic Surgery Practice. He can be reached via [email protected].
