Make sure your website is ready for the latest Google updates
01 April 2015
Mobile friendly is the key phrase for Google as it juggles its results in a big shake up in April 2015.
Beleaguered Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) companies everywhere can see some light at the end of the tunnel with the news that's spreading fast about Google changing their algorithms begining on the 21st of April 2015. It's a tough industry for those businesses concentrating on SEO - it's very rare any one buys into the false promises today. The simple truth is that if you have a straight forward correct structure to your pages and have appropriate content and links to your website you will do well. Google sets out to reward websites that supply good content. SEO tricks and gimmicks will have limited impact on a website with poor content - which means SEO companies are struggling to sell their services. However, the latest change at Google really will require a review of your website to help improve rankings.
The search giant regularly change the criteria used to index and display results to those using it's search engine but the latest change will mark up, or score higher, mobile friendly websites. This at last gives SEO companies, and web design and development companies, some real ammunition to convince businesses to re-structure their website to improve search engine results. If you have a business website you are probably already being bombarded by junk e-mail telling you to rebuild your website ready for the change.
Your website may already have a responsive design and will be ready for the new algorithm. It's simple enough to check - just view your website on your mobile phone or on a portrait tablet and see how it appears. The key things are that your website should resize automatically for the the screen it is being viewed on, links need to remain well spaced and legible, and the fonts should be a relevant size for the screen. You can also use the Google webmaster tools to check your website and it will report back on the suitability of your website for mobile platforms. If you are signed up to Google's webmaster tools you will already have had an automated e-mail from Google giving information on this. If you can see problems with your website on a smaller screen then so will Google when it visits your website, and it is worth considering short term changes to your website design and layout.
There's no reason to panic. The 21st of April isn't a cut off to get you in or out of Google. Your pages will be regularly visited to check for updates, so as long as you have updates in hand your site can work back up the rankings. The first thing to do is get your website checked, using the basic guide above. If you're unsure then Oscura can review your website and link it to Google's tools to provide quick feedback on any action you need to take. Oscura can quickly advise if your website is mobile friendly - please just give us a call.
If your website needs work to get it mobile friendly then Oscura can provide advice on what to do and how to do it. The key thing is to ensure you are providing a responsive website design to your customers - if your customers like viewing your site on their smart phone then Google will like it too.