Response Guide to Google Mobile Updates
Google’s new mobile algorithm update began its phased rolled out recently, leaving many businesses wondering if and what they should do next. Whether you have a completely mobile responsive site or have given no thought whatsoever to mobile friendliness, you should take note of this change. Even businesses with mobile friendly site designs can still find ways to improve.
The following can be your guide to know what steps you should take in light of this new search algorithm change. It starts by first gathering data and then using that data to make your plan.
Do Your Research
There are three things you should do create a comprehensive picture of your current mobile-friendly status, as follows:
- Check Webmaster Tools
Your Webmaster Tools account can alert you to any errors associated with your account. Review these and look for any errors that are specific to mobile search or mobile usability.
- Take Google’s Test
Google has created its own test that outlines how it views your site’s mobile friendliness. The Google Mobile-Friendly Test takes only a moment to complete and tells you how a particular URL rates in the eyes of the search giant. Among the list of potential problems identified, you will see an image of how your page appears to Google’s crawlers.
You should test your key landing pages as well as your home page. Testing some other internal pages may also be valuable.
- Test Yourself
Pick up your own smartphone or tablet and do a search for keywords relevant to your business. See where your site shows up in the results. Also, take note of what other businesses as well as directory listings and review sites are returned.
Once you do all of this, you should have a start on your action item list to improve your own results.
Get Busy
Certainly your action items should relate directly to the results of your research. Following are some items that are worth your time even if they do not directly show up as issues in your research.
- Crawlability
Review how easily your site is for search engines to crawl. If you have a lot of flash or other hidden content, you will want to remove that. A good Schema markup can also improve your crawlability. - Link Structure
A predominance of external links associated with your landing pages can be a red flag to Google. Make sure that links on these pages, as with any location pages, are mostly internal. - Keyword and Content Matching
Make sure that the content on a given page actually matches and is relevant to the terms you use to rank on that page. Without this, your keywords can be deemed misleading to the customer by Google.
Another thing that businesses should give new consideration to in light of the mobile algorithm update is the development of mobile apps. When they have clear purpose and add value to the customer experience, they can enhance mobile search results.
Move Mobile Up in Priority
Clearly Google is encouraging businesses and web site owners to bump up the priority of importance given to mobile function. When you rise to the challenge, you will enjoy a great competitive advantage.
