Will Google Actually Penalize Your Not So Mobile-Friendly Website?
They could, but it’s not ALL doom & gloom for the Carlsbad business websites that don’t play so nice with mobile devices.
According to Google,
If your site’s pages aren’t mobile-friendly, there may be a significant decrease in mobile traffic from Google Search.
The good news is this update:
- Affects only search rankings on mobile devices
- Affects search results in all languages globally
- Applies to individual pages, not entire websites
While the mobile-friendly change is important, we still use a variety of signals to rank search results. The intent of the search query is still a very strong signal — so even if a page with high quality content is not mobile-friendly, it could still rank high if it has great content for the query.
Another reason not to fear is that once your site does become mobile-friendly, Google will automatically re-process (i.e., crawl and index) your pages.
Image via Google Webmaster Central Blog
How Mobile Unfriendly Carlsbad Businesses Could Be Doomed
Giving prospective & existing customers a mobile-friendly presence when viewing your website is as important as claiming your Carlsbad Google+ Local business listing.
Google officially announced that today’s the day they begin globally rolling out the mobile-friendly update.
What does this mean to Carlsbad businesses?
Simply put, Google will be boosting the ranking of mobile-friendly pages on mobile search results.
That’s their words, not me paraphrasing.
You see, they want to make it easier for prospective & existing customers [they said searchers] to actually FIND MORE HIGH-QUALITY & RELEVANT RESULTS.
If your Carlsbad business ain’t that result, one of your local competitors IS!
Carlsbad Businesses Need to Go Mobile or Miss Out
Google knows probably better than most broadband internet & cable monopolies – sorry, providers, that our mobile phone is our primary way of accessing the internet.
In the past, 70% of us access the internet from our smartphones.
If your business website is not what Google considers to be mobile-friendly, it might as well be invisible when someone searches in your area for the local goods & services you provide…from their phone.
Don’t think that happens often?
According to Google, 97 percent of consumers search online for local businesses.
That was from 2012…so don’t continue to be so two thousand LATE with a mobile-friendly website for your Carlsbad business!
Mobile Website, App, or Responsive Website?
We won’t get into the intricacies of mobile-friendly website design choices, but it basically comes down to three options for small businesses:
- Mobile Website
- Responsive Website Design
- Mobile Web App
Just understand that if your website looks outdated, it will not only influence how potential (& existing) customers view your business, it will also adversely affect your mobile search rankings…and just MAYBE your local rankings too…more on that in a later post.
We now live in an always-connected multi-screen world, and when consumers search on their mobile device for the goods & services your Carlsbad business provides being THERE when people search is the first ingredient, but being accessible within the mobile environment is a close second.
Test If Your Website Is Mobile-Friendly
Carlsbad business owners curious about their mobile presence need not rely on pedantic posts like this or salespeople gunning for quota at your website supplier du jour.
You’re probably paying an arm & a leg for what most likely is a quick switch for them anyway, but you keep on pushing those expenses off the balance sheet with explanation more so than ROI.
Don’t take anyone’s word for it, except Google’s…type in your website URL to test it for yourself:
You can also check the status of your entire site through the Mobile Usability report in Webmaster Tools.
Once your site becomes mobile-friendly, Google will automatically re-process (i.e., crawl and index) your pages.
You can also expedite the process by using Fetch as Google with Submit to Index, and then your pages can be treated as mobile-friendly in ranking.
If you’re already among the mobile-friendly Carlsbad businesses, grab our free Google Reviews Toolkit to arm customers with the need to know info on how to review your business right from their mobile phone…as you probably already realized, Google doesn’t make that one too easy at all.
Click on the image to submit your info so we can customize & send your FREE toolkit.
