Google’s Mobile Algorithm Update: April 21

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Recently, Google announced that they would be expanding their use of mobile-friendliness as a ranking signal. The algorithm update will take place on April 21 and will affect mobile searches worldwide. Are you ready for April’s mobilegeddon?

There are a few steps you can take to discover whether or not your website passes the mobile test. And if it doesn’t, below we’ll explain some steps you can take to ensure you don’t lose valuable organic traffic.

Is my site mobile-friendly?

Google has offered a great resource to test your website’s mobile-friendliness. Run your website through the Mobile-Friendly Test tool. Here you can get a quick glance at your mobile-friendly score and view suggestions for implementing mobile solutions.

 

Speed & Usability

So your website is accessible on mobile devices? Great! But next, we need to check if your website is optimized for users in terms of page speed and usability. Using Google’s PageSpeed Insights tool, you can reveal page load issues that can cause longer wait times and bouncing users who abandon your website. On any device, but especially on mobile, users are easily frustrated by long load times. Here you can get quick suggestions for decreasing page load time and optimizing user experience.

 

I passed these tests, am I in the clear?

If you’ve made it this far with flying colors, that’s great! The last step we recommend is manually checking your website on a variety of devices (mobile phones, tablets and desktop computers). Are common tasks easy to complete? Can customers submit leads to or make phone calls from your website easily on all devices? Are forms, buttons and pictures easily accessible and displaying properly? Is text legible and communicating the proper hierarchy? If not, here are some things to consider before the April 21 update.

How do I make sure my site is mobile-friendly?

According to Google and a majority of web professionals, the best website solution is responsive web design. Responsive websites conform to the viewing platform (desktop, tablet or mobile phones) regardless of screen size or viewing environment. They can also be very cost-effective over time, since future edits and updates will only need to be made once, rather than on multiple versions. VC Web Design specializes in responsive websites, and we follow the latest best practices to ensure your success online:

  • Fluid designs that conform to all devices and platforms
  • Clean, streamlined designs that ensure a great user experience
  • Implementing clean code and the latest techniques to ensure your website loads quickly, regardless of device

In addition to these items, we also install Google Analytics on your website, so that visitor behavior can be tracked. By looking at the data, we can identify possible usability issues and derive solutions. We also submit our websites to Google Webmaster Tools upon launch, so that Google can alert us of any potential errors or areas that need improving.

My website isn’t mobile-friendly, where do I start?

VC Web Design is here to help! We have website professionals that specialize in Google’s latest algorithm updates and understand the importance of mobile usability. Contact us today to make adjustments to your existing website, or to start a brand new responsive website design project today!