Tomorrow Google’s new mobile friendly algorithm will be released, and websites that are not mobile responsive will see a significant drop in mobile search positions. The main reason Google is putting in place this new algorithm is to ensure searchers will not only receive the most relevant content, but will also be able to view that content on their mobile devices with ease. With 60% of searches deriving from a mobile device, it’s no surprise that Google’s new algorithm will have a negative impact for your website if your web pages are not optimized.
In this blog we will examine four of the most common technical mobile optimization pitfalls to ensure your website is armed and ready for Mobilegeddon.
Endless scrolling and pinching the screen to zoom in and out is highly irritating for individuals viewing your website content on a mobile device. Your web page viewport declares how your windows will be displayed to viewers - on all devices. If your brand fails to configure your website’s viewport, this will unfortunately be the way your website viewers interact with your pages. When brands configure their viewport to be the same width as the device it is being displayed on, the text and images are legible without a user having to adjust the page themselves. Always think about your formatting from the user’s perspective: you should be adjusting to the screen of their mobile device, instead of them having to adjust to your website.
Utilize this tool to check if your pages are configuring the viewport tag correctly.
Googlebots must have access to your website’s JavaScript, CSS, and image files. If Googlebots do not have access, they won’t be able to view your website like average viewers, making it harder for them to render and index your pages. Crawlability is key: if your website’s robots.txt does not allow crawling on these items it will directly harm how Google’s new algorithm ranks your content.
To ensure your JavaScript, CSS, and images files are crawlable use the Fetch as Google feature in Google Webmaster Tools.
Many companies make the mistake of linking to irrelevant URLs, such as the home page you would view on a desktop while someone is reading about your brand's services on a mobile device. Luckily, this common error is a easy to fix. Review your web pages before the end of the day to ensure your web page links are linking to the correct equivalent page. If you don’t Google will recognize this while crawling and could discount your mobile authority.
We know that along with the rise of mobile, there has been a rise in interactive and engaging video content. Because of this, the last thing your website visitors want to see is a video that is unavailable. Not only does this create an annoying experience for your consumers, but Google will also penalize you for this occurrence. A variety of content sources, such as Flash, are not accessible only mobile devices leading to unplayable content and frustrated viewers. Get your media in the right format and make your switch before Google catches you in mobile-limbo.
View Google Web Designer to develop animations in HTML5 and avoid this pitfall.
Tomorrow marks the beginning of Google’s mobile algorithm rollout. If you haven’t taken the baseline steps to optimize and improve user experience, you’re not too late. However, once your website has been optimized for Mobilegeddon, you need to ensure your website is not only getting love from Google, but also from your customers. For this specific situation you’re optimizing your website content for mobile devices but for future Google algorithm rollouts you must ensure that your website is staying on top of the trends.
Luckily, we’ve created a simple formula to ensure your website won’t get lost in the search engine results page.
Topics: Mobile
Andrea is the Social Media and Content Writer Specialist at Brandify.
