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Although we have speculated for a while that Google’s algorithm has been creeping towards mobile friendly websites, they finally made it official according to the Google Webmaster website. As of April 21, 2015, Google will be giving an increased amount of weight to mobile responsive websites as trends continue to move towards increased mobile and tablet usage. As expected, they did not state how much weight would be given to responsiveness, but we consider it a lucky break that they are actually giving us a head start this time around.
So here is the good and bad about the algorithm change:
BAD NEWS
If you have a website that is not currently mobile responsive and you are ranking well for your key business keywords, you may want to seriously consider creating a mobile version of your site. While the impact of this change may not be immediate, the impact of all past targeted algorithm changes have not favored businesses that do not comply.
If your website is currently mobile responsive and you are ranking well, there is still a chance that the new algorithm will shake-up search results even if you are in compliance. Usually when Google rolls out a major change, there are other smaller changes being worked in that may also affect your rankings. In a case where you lose key positions, do not panic immediately. Loss of rankings can happen from time to time when Google tests outcomes and tweaks algorithms. If you lose rankings for more than a few weeks or months, you should probably start looking for contributing factors like site and page authority, site content quality and responsive version quality, then judge them against the sites that have replaced you in rank.
GOOD NEWS
If you have a mobile responsive website, you may experience a boost in your rankings depending on whether or not the sites ranking above you are mobile responsive or not.
If you are not ranking and do not have a mobile responsive site, this is a great opportunity to get in the SEO hunt. Our bet is that many of your competitors will be waiting this out if they are even aware of the new algorithms to see how the search results will be affected. Taking timely action to be an early mover with a responsive site will give you the maximum chance of making moves up the leaderboard.
To get more information on responsive websites, a website review or analysis, or even a complete overhaul of your web presence, give us a call – 888-434-1411. We would love to chat!
