On April 22nd, 2015 Google updated the way it ranks websites in its search engine. In unprecedented fashion, Google actually warned web developers and web managers of the update. This is basically unheard of in the realm of Google updates as Google tries to keep secret its methods to ranking websites, for the most part.
In the past when a Google update was made it took some intuition and some strict metrics to try and pinpoint exactly what was effecting a website’s search engine ranking. Of course, most web managers, marketers, and SEO’s know, generally, what Google really likes. Google likes trust.
Trusted websites get the highest rankings in Google search engines, especially when a user has not specified what types of results they want to see. Trusted websites include ones that provide useful, unique content that is often linked to by other websites. External linking is also considered a major factor most of the time. This shows that the website is serious about not only creating new and unique content but sharing other’s new and unique content as well. So, I guess in the end we can say that Google likes trust and selflessness.
Despite this, we really don’t know exactly what Google wants from us. Some like it that way as it keeps an even playing field. Others become frustrated because they can’t get their content out to the masses because no one can find their website.
In the end, a healthy dose of organic SEO and other marketing methods are what really set certain websites or companies apart from others. Knowing how users think and use the Internet is the most helpful tool you can have as a website manager or SEO.
One of those helpful bits of knowledge is that mobile browsing is growing at a rate unlike we’ve ever seen. Most than 65% of Internet users say they find businesses using their mobile phone rather than a desktop or laptop computer.
Google knows this better than anyone, and they did something about it. In Google’s latest update they changed the way they rank websites in their mobile searches, giving more weight to websites that are mobile-friendly. So, what does mobile-friendly really mean? Most any site can be seen on a mobile device, but that doesn’t mean the user experience is a good one.
Responsive, or mobile website designs and development is imperative in today’s increasingly digital world. If a user comes to your website expecting a good mobile experience, then finds your website difficult to read or view, has to zoom in or out, and simply can’t view your website on their mobile device at all, they are going to go elsewhere. In this case you may as well just redirect your website visitors to your competitor’s website.
So, what can you do to make sure your website doesn’t lose visitors due to the new Google update? It’s pretty simple. You need to make sure you have a mobile-friendly website. Whether this means a responsive website design or a separate mobile website, whatever the case, Google has just made this a requirement if you want to get to or remain near the top of search engine results; or even be considered for that matter. Ultimately, you should have a mobile-ready website for your website visitors rather than for Google, but it doesn’t hurt with the latter.