Google Sticks Up For Mobile Users

Google Sticks Up For Mobile Users

As technology has been so rapidly changing, mobile devices are now accounting for a major portion of total internet traffic. In fact, as this mid 2014 comScore report shows, 60% of time consuming digital media in the US was spent on tablets or smartphones at the time of its publishing. This outstanding movement away from desktop is surely a trend that will continue in the modern world.

Mobile users have different expectations when using the internet. Factors such as users of mobile being on the move with a small screen mean that they are often after quick snippets of information such as addresses or contact details rather than large amounts of content. As mobile connections can be much slower than desktop broadband internet, patience for slow loading pages reduces and when coupled with battery life considerations, stretches it further.

Fully aware and unwilling to turn a blind eye to customer behaviour, Google has announced plans to reward mobile friendly sites, effectively penalising those that do not have a mobile responsive interface.

Google has been working on updating its algorithms to take into account factors which affect mobile visitors. Starting in April 2015, Google will be implementing these algorithm modifications and website owners can expect to have their rankings affected as Google claims their new considerations will have a “significant impact” on search results.

Sh*t! What Can I Do to Protect My Rankings?

Don’t freak out, there are steps you can take to making your website mobile friendly. Google has provided this great mobile friendly test tool which can be used to see if you have cause for concern.

If changes are required then you certainly need to speak with your web developer to discuss what needs to be implemented on your site to become suitable for mobile.

And to all you consumers using mobile devices to get your digital fix, you can look forward to finding more mobile relevant results which provide a better user experience when you search through Google in the future.