Google Mobilegeddon – How the Mobile Update will affect your website ranking

Google Mobilegeddon – About the new Mobile Google Update

If you own a website or are in the website design, internet marketing or SEO business, then you’ve most probably heard about Google’s new Mobile Update. And if you’re thinking that this update won’t affect your website or business, we strongly advise you give more attention to this “Mobilegeddon”.

SEO and internet marketing specialist were on the edge of their seats the past few days. As the Mobile Update was rolled out on 21 April 2015, we were all waiting to see how the update would affect our clients’ (and our own) websites. When looking at the statistics of mobile internet users globally and in South Africa, it is clear that mobile is the way to go – and Google has confirmed that with the new Mobile Update.

Internet users in South Africa – Source: We Are Social @wearesocialsg / DIGITAL, SOCIAL & MOBILE IN 2015 / www.slideshare.net

Smartphone users South Africa – Source: Effective Measures 2014 / www.effectivemeasures.com

The volume of mobile internet users are seemingly high, supporting Google’s decision to implement the new Mobile Update. Google announced that they will be boosting the ranking of mobile-friendly pages of websites on mobile Google search results as of 21 April 2015.

According to Google, the Mobile Update will:

“Affect only search rankings on mobile devices;

Affect search results in all languages globally; and

Apply to individual pages, not entire websites”

It is important to note that the change will have an effect globally, meaning that if your website is not mobile-friendly, it is definitely something you need to look into.

How the Mobile Update will affect your website

It is still unclear as to how this Mobile Update from Google will affect the search engine ranking results. Even though the update has already been implemented, it might take a few weeks to roll out completely and show any visible effects.

It is advised to do a quick mobile-friendly check to determine your websites performance when it comes to mobile friendliness. If your website ranks well in search engine results, but the specific pages are not very mobile-friendly, this could affect your ranking position causing you to be pushed down below your competitors. If your website is pushed to the second page of a Google search result, this could have serious effects on traffic to your website and even the enquiries you receive. Loss of traffic to your website could be anything as little as 1% or as high as 40%. A helpful article from Moz tells you how to estimate your potential lost traffic.

An easy fix for your website

If you are worried about your websites performance after the implementation of the Mobile Update, don’t fret too much yet. Most website companies or your website designer will be able to offer you a responsive solution to adhere to this new internet update, keeping you up-to-date with the latest changes.

You can test your website here for mobile friendliness.

What is Responsive Website Design?

Responsive Website Design

This method of website designed aims to provide the best viewing experience of your website for mobile and tablet users. The view of the website will adapt to the mobile device, making it easier to view without needing to scroll to see other parts of the site. This makes the information on the website easier to read, and allows the user easier navigation to desired pages.

We say, why take the chance – get your website mobile-friendly soon.