GOOGLE MICE UPDATE
Google Mice Update
Please take note of this if you own a website.
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Google is at it again. Previously, the company published recommendations to help webmasters ensure that their websites are mobile-friendly and highlighted the most common configuration mistakes they’d noticed on mobile websites.
However, Google never clearly stated that mobile-friendliness would become a ranking factor, as previous announcements had treated mobile-friendliness as more of a usability issue. This all changed when Google announced via its Webmaster Central Blog on February 26, 2015, that it would be expanding the use of mobile-friendliness as a ranking signal:
“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. Consequently, users will find it easier to get relevant, high quality search results that are optimized for their devices.”
To give this update practical context, if your website or the websites of your clients do not carry the mobile-friendly label in mobile search results, after April 21, you would have a serious issue on your hands. If your website has not been properly configured for mobile devices, chances are, it would disappear from the radar for any Google searches performed on mobile devices.
The truth is, you and your clients cannot afford to ignore mobile users. More and more people are using mobile search. Websites that fail to show up on Google’s mobile search results would experience serious traffic losses. Serious traffic losses would lead to diminished lead capturing, nurturing, and conversion.
This is not an overreaction—this is real. When Google sets a date for a major algorithm change or rollout (and describes the impact as “significant”), you can bet your bottom dollar that they mean business. Google is determined to display search results that carry the mobile-friendly label at the expense of websites that don’t.
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Please look at the attached infographic displaying current and future mobile Internet usage.
If you would like information on how to make sure your website survives the Google Mice Update please contact us
