Six Informative Articles that Will Prepare You for Google’s “Mobilegeddon”

Have you viewed your website analytics recently? Many webmasters have noted an increasing amount of traffic coming from mobile devices and tablets. In fact, eMarketer predicts that mobile search (which includes smartphone and tablet traffic) will surpass desktop search in 2015.

“The ubiquity of smartphones, and consumers’ growing use of phones in almost every waking moment of the day, means that search will be more mobile than desktop [in 2015]. The importance of search in the digital experience makes this a trend that bears watching,” stated the report.

Google, of course, is no stranger to mobile’s ascendancy, and has been tweaking its algorithms and products to accommodate mobile’s growth. In November 18, 2014, Google announced that it would be adding the “mobile-friendly” label to its mobile search results to denote web pages that have been optimized for viewing on mobile devices. In its push to accommodate the increasing number of mobile searchers, Google has also published recommendations to help webmasters ensure that their websites are mobile-friendly, and highlighted the most common configuration errors they’d noticed on mobile sites.

Not content with publishing recommendations and highlighting configuration errors on mobile sites, Google finally dropped a bomb that marketers, webmasters, and business owners everywhere have been dreading for quite some time now: starting on April 21, 2015, Google will be expanding its use of mobile-friendliness as a ranking signal in mobile search results:

Starting April 21, we will be expanding our use of mobile-friendliness as a ranking signal. This change will affect mobile searches in all languages worldwide and will have a significant impact in our search results. Consequently, users will find it easier to get relevant, high quality search results that are optimized for their devices.

While this algorithm update spells good news for smartphone and tablet users, it could prove problematic for webmasters, marketers, and business owners who have non-mobile-friendly websites. After April 21, websites that do not carry the mobile-friendly label would loss rankings on Google’s mobile search results, which in turn would negatively impact traffic and conversions.

If you’re starting to feel panicky about this impending update, or are still considering the pros and cons of dedicated mobile sites versus responsive web design (RWD), have no fear. Marketing Digest has curated the following articles and blog posts from noteworthy online marketers and thought leaders.

These articles will not only help you understand Google’s latest algorithm update, but also provides practical tips that will help you prepare for “Mobilegeddon”.

If you’re interested in learning the nitty-gritty about Google’s mobile-friendly update, one of the best places to start is this article written by Richard Lesher of Volume Nine (@RichardLesher & @V9SEO). Lesher provides a timeline of the updates, announcements, and tools that Google has rolled out in preparation for Mobilegeddon.

When it comes to giving quirky nicknames to Google’s never-ending stream of algorithms, Endlessrise (@EndlessRise_Inc) nailed this one by giving Google’s mobile-friendly update the sobriquet “Google Mice”. Why mice? Read the article to find out why.

Endlessrise’s insightful blog post will help you prepare your website for Mobilegeddon, ensuring that it maintains its rankings on Google’s mobile search results after April 21.

Interested in finding out how Google’s mobile-friendly update will impact business websites? Chris Horton of Synecore (@chrshorton & @SynecoreTech) provides some solid mobile-friendly advice, and discusses the benefits of taking the RWD route before April 21.

Need practical tips on how to utilize the limited space found on mobile real estate? Liz O’Neill Dennison of Kapost (@kapost) provides practical tips that will help you create informative content that has been optimized for mobile devices without compromising SEO rankings.

While many of the articles available online discuss the general impact of Google’s algorithm update, very few have examined how Mobilegeddon would likely impact particular industries and niches. Dustin Curtis of Mockingbird examines how Google’s mobile-friendly update will likely impact the legal industry, and highlights why it’s important for lawyers to ensure that their websites are mobile-friendly.

The following article by Pierre DeBois for Zimana (@ZimanaAnalytics) provides more practical advice on how businesses can prepare for Mobilegeddon. Among other things, DeBois advises businesses to check their sites’ load speeds by examining how the CSS, JavaScript, and image files are loaded within the page.

Is your website mobile-optimized? If not, are you creating dedicated mobile sites or implementing responsive web design to accommodate Google’s latest algorithm update?

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