What is Mobilegeddon and should you be worried?
If you listen to Business Insider “millions of small business” will be crushed. If you take a look at the Washington Post, they are using the term “apocalypse.” So, what is going on? Is this that big of a deal? Let’s unpack this.
What is Mobilegeddon?
Simply put Google is changing its algorithm so that on searches made on mobile devices, “mobile friendly” sites will be elevated over sites that are not mobile friendly. So, a user who is performing a Google search from her phone or tablet will be shown search results for websites that are designed to fit her smaller device. According to Google a mobile-friendly site boils down to the following:
- Avoids software that doesn’t render well on common mobile devices. (Think Flash)
- Uses text that is readable without zooming.
- Sizes content to the screen properly without having to scroll horizontally. (Vertically is fine.)
- Places links far enough apart so that the correct link can be easily tapped.
Is my site impacted? If so, how bad will this problem be?
The easiest way to check if your site is impacted is to take the Google Mobile-Friendly Test. Just enter your website’s domain address in the bar, click “Analyse” and Google will either tell your site is “awesome” and meets their criteria for mobile friendliness. Yay! You can do a happy dance and move on with your day feeling a bit superior to those poor sots this impacts.
More like this
How to tell if Google thinks your site is mobile-friendly
Are publishers ready for Google’s ‘mobile-friendly’ rankings?
Google’s mobile friendly algorithm change: Why businesses could rue “mobilegeddon”
