Mobile Search Ranking
Mobile sites are generally ranked based on the merits of their corresponding desktop sites. As previously discussed, both on and off-page elements are taken into consideration when ranking sites within search results. It seems however, that Google feel mobile search requires a different algorithm to that of desktop search.
Improving Mobile Search
The update is referred to as a ‘mobile-friendly’ algorithm change with the goal of improving mobile search for users. Google has identified that the user experience of some sites featured in mobile search results, is sub-standard for the increasing majority of people now using Google search on their mobile devices.
Smart Insights Case Study: Eurostar
Mobile and desktop search results for the query ‘trains to paris’ return Eurostar as the top result. The user experience however, differs greatly between mobile and desktop.
The desktop user will land on the Eurostar Paris route information page, which provides the user with information relating to the route itself and allows for booking. The mobile user will hand on the same page, but is immediately redirected to a 'select language' page, despite having arrived from Google UK. Once the user has selected their language, they are re-directed to the mobile homepage and must navigate back to the page they originally landed on.
Google sees this mobile experience as unacceptable and is therefore introducing the aforementioned updates to penalise sites for not being 'mobile friendly'.
Algorithm Criteria
The update will give more prominence to mobile sites with the ‘mobile-friendly’ label. The top-level criteria of the update includes the following rules:
- Avoids software that is not common on mobile devices (such as Flash)
- Uses text that is readable without zooming
- Sizes content to the screen (responsive) so users don’t have to scroll horizontally or zoom
- Places links far enough apart so the correct link can be easily selected
What are the consequences of my site not being mobile friendly?
Google has stated that the update will impact sites on a page-by-page basis, meaning that only those pages deemed not to be mobile friendly will be impacted, rather than the domain as a whole. These pages will suffer from reduced visibility within organic search results.
It is also possible that this reduction may extend to desktop search results as an incentive to webmasters to improve mobile experiences – so it's imperative you make any changes required to gain your ‘mobile friendly’ label now.
How do I check if my site is mobile friendly?
If you are unsure whether your mobile site adheres to the mobile SEO algorithm update’s rules, there are a number of tools available to help you pinpoint any changes you should make.
- Google has already implemented mobile friendly labels which appear within organic mobile search results (main article image), so if your site doesn’t appear to have one, consider it a strong indicator that you need to make changes to your site
- Google Webmaster Tools offers a mobile usability report to identify pages on your website with errors for mobile users
- Google Developer offer the mobile friendly test tool and page speed insights to identify errors and provide suggested ‘fix it’ methods
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