If you
noticed a sudden drop in visits to your website in the last couple days, it
might be the “Mobilegeddon” effect. All in all, though, many site owners remain
oblivious to any impact in traffic as the result of Google’s new search
algorithm favoring mobile-friendly sites.
On April
21, Google tweaked the algorithm to give more weight in search results rankings
to sites with mobile-compatible navigation. Google announced two months ago
that it would be making the change and provided developer tools to help site
owners determine if alterations were needed.
The date
was dubbed Mobilegeddon in the tech press due to the potential hit some sites
might take.
According
to the Greenlight digital marketing agency, the first link in search rankings
usually gets about 20%-30% of all clicks on the page. The second and third
links receive 5%-10%, and the rest yield 1% or less. For organizations that
rely on search traffic, a lower berth in the rankings might cost them a lot of
business. In early April, TechCrunch found 44% of all Fortune 500 company sites failed Google’s mobile test.
The up side
for websites is that only searches conducted on smartphones are subject to the
new algorithm. Searches via desktop or tablet will produce the same results as
before, at least for now. Google clearly thinks web searching is becoming a
mobile thing.
To enhance
your site’s mobile friendliness, Search Engine Land offers some recommendations.
