Recently, Google have been sending out notifications and messages to a huge amount of webmasters who have websites that are not mobile friendly. Does this mean that they are considering launching a brand new algorithm based around mobile usability? It certainly looks this way.
These notifications Google are sending out are being received through Webmaster Tools and emails. Basically, what the Search Engine is trying to do is remind and warn webmasters that their site is not mobile friendly and is either going to get penalised or struggle ranking. All of this points to the fact that Google are more than likely going to release a new algorithm soon and if your site isn't up to scratch, and not mobile friendly, you could potentially suffer.
The messages typically look like this...
Continue reading this article to find out what you need to do to ensure you are not hit by this potential new algorithm...
To find out if your website is in danger of being penalised or not being able to rank to its full potential, simply access your Webmaster Tools and see if you have any notifications like the above. If you do have a notification in your Webmaster Tools, you will definitely need to get the issues fixed and ensure your site is user friendly on a mobile. If you do not have access to Webmaster Tools and you're a business owner, ring up your website hosting or SEO company and they will be able to assist you. Another thing you can try is to simply follow this link and then enter your website URL:https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/mobile-friendly/ it will then tell you if your website is mobile friendly or not. Or if you struggle with that You can try accessing your website from a mobile device and see how it appears yourself. If you get frustrated with it and have to do a lot of zooming and scrolling to be able to read text and see images, you will need to review your website from a mobile perspective and make sure it is more responsive and user friendly.
If you have checked the above and are happy with how your website appears on a mobile device then there is nothing more you need to do from a usability perspective, but you should still look at improving your mobile SEO. Find out more about this here: The Ultimate Small Business Guide To Mobile Marketing
However, if you are not happy with how your current website appears on mobile devices then you will either need to get a separate mobile website designed or get your existing site made mobile responsive by your website design company. Take a look at the message in Webmaster Tools and see what Google suggests you do. Once the mobile usability issues on your website have been resolved, Google will no longer warn you to fix issues on your site. This will also ensure you don't get penalised by the next possible “BIG” Algorithm update.
If you are now happy with the usability of your website on a mobile device you need to make sure your website is showing up on mobile searches. You can do this by making sure your website is optimised in the right way. Here are a few tips below to help your website become more visible in mobile search.
1) Local searches are more popular on mobile
As you may or may not know, local searches are more popular than national searches on mobile devices. If your main customer base is local and you offer a local service, you need to ensure your Google Places/Google My Business page is fully optimised. For more information on this read our article: How To Dominate Your Local Google Results
2) Keywords
Researching and choosing the correct keywords are part of the foundations of any SEO campaign. If you don't get this right, you are not going to get the results you are looking for. Keywords might include long-tail terms, local terms and shorter terms. Some of these will be easier to rank for than others. To learn more about choosing the right keywords read our article: How To Choose the Right Keywords For SEO
3) On Site SEO
Your websites on site optimisation is also a big factor when it comes to ranking well in mobile searches or any search results. Once you have picked the right keywords you need to make sure your website content is optimised for these, your title tags need to be optimised correctly as well as a number of other things including: having your full business address in the footer and contact page, optimising image Alt text and more. Learn what not to do when optimising your website here: 6 SEO Mistakes To Avoid When Optimising Your Website
4) Building Brand Authority and Attracting Links
Having backlinks is still crucial in SEO and still one of the most important ranking factors. However, the way to go about getting links has changed drastically over the past few years and it is important that you really understand what you are doing to avoid getting an algorithmic or manual penalty. The best way of obtaining links in the modern world of SEO is by attracting them. You can do this by regularly posting great content about your niche, products and services and then marketing the content you produce. This will also help you to build your brand authority and will make your business more trusted from a user perspective and from Google's point of view. Read our article on the following link for tips on creating content: What To Blog About: 11 Blog Post Idea For Small Businesses
Having a mobile website in 2015 is now an absolute must, especially with the potential upcoming Google update and the fact that mobile search trends continue to increase. As long as you keep updated with current trends and follow the points above, your website will continue to attract more and more leads and enquiries.