Go Mobile Friendly ASAP – Google is Keen on Mobile Search

How important is ‘mobile search’ for Google? There has been a lot speculation on this. Google has announced officially its intention with mobile search. So let us better understand what it implies. Will your ranking deviate if your website is not mobile friendly? If yes, how important it is to have a mobile friendly website? Google has made some important announcements on this. Let us see what it implies:

What was the announcement?

In my blog earlier I had mentioned that a website that is mobile friendly proves to be good for SEO purpose along with user experience. This is true. Google announced that it is going to look at mobile friendliness as a ranking factor. The announcement is as follows:

Exact quote from the announcement. “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.”

Go mobile friendly ASAP or face the consequences

Google is giving time to website owners who have not made their websites mobile friendly, so that they can make this transition. The Google announcement implies that you should make your website mobile friendly by April 21. Google wants to reward mobile friendly websites with better rankings in mobile search. While sites those are not mobile friendly will see a decline in mobile rankings and hence decline in overall traffic and business. This was absolutely necessary considering a big percentage of people now searching over mobile devices.

Earlier too, Google had announced that website owners should have mobile friendly websites. Google started to display ‘mobile-friendly’ labels to people searching on mobile devices and also sent notifications to website owners about mobile usability via Google Webmaster Tools (GWT). They also launched a mobile friendly testing tool and added a mobile usability report in GWT.

Earlier being mobile friendly was an option but, soon it will become a norm and organizations must create websites which are mobile friendly. It is not just a competitive advantage but it will provide visitors with the best mobile experience. Responsive designs give better user experience and it is less prone to errors than dedicated mobile sites.

Instead of having a separate websites for desktop and mobiles, a single responsive website is a better option.

Conclusion

In conclusion, if you don’t yet have a mobile friendly website yet then it is THE TIME that you should have it. This announcement by Google shall eliminate all doubts you had with respect to mobile or a responsive website and underline their significance.