We’ve helped your business think BIG, now it’s time to think small!
A huge shift in the world of internet search is coming and if you’re not prepared, it could affect your business significantly.
As of April 21 2015, Google will implement a new search algorithm change that will penalize web sites, within its mobile based web searches, that do not have a mobile optimized version of their site.
“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.” – Google
See the full article from Google here – http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com.au/2015/02/finding-more-mobile-friendly-search.html
Considering that 29% of internet usage in Australia is now on mobile devices (statcounter), this potentially means 1 in 4 people searching for your business may not find any trace of it.
And those numbers are only set to grow, with mobile internet usage up 10% from 19% this time last year.
How do I know if this affects me?
Luckily Google have made it easy to see whether your site is mobile friendly, by using their Mobile friendly test. https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/mobile-friendly/
The test will determine how your site looks and functions on a mobile device and let you know if your site is considered mobile friendly or not.
What can I do to prepare for this change?
Depending on your current website, there are a few options you may have.
- SWiM can build you a mobile friendly website, independent of your current website, specifically aimed at targeting users searching for your site via a mobile device. This website may contain a slimmed down version of your content with an option for people to switch to view the full desktop site. This option is more affordable and will fulfil Google’s requirements for now but may not necessarily be future safe.
- SWiM can consult with you and provide a new website design and build that is ‘responsive’, meaning it is specifically designed and built to work on all screen sizes and devices. This method is considered future safe as it caters to not only mobile devices but also tablets and even large scale devices such as internet enabled TV’s.
This is also Google’s recommended course of action.
“Sites that use responsive web design, i.e. sites that serve all devices on the same set of URLs, with each URL serving the same HTML to all devices and using just CSS to change how the page is rendered on the device. This is Google’s recommended configuration.” – Google – http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com.au/2012/06/recommendations-for-building-smartphone.html
SWiM has been pushing mobile optimisation for a while now in anticipation of such a shift on the web and below are some examples of our successful mobile optimized web sites.
www.fambiz.org.au
www.godek.com.au
*Resize your internet browser to see how the sites layouts respond to the screen size
www.designerschoice.com.au – e-commerce
*View on a mobile device to see how the layout differs from desktop to mobile
When should I take action?
Quite simply, the time is now! Google has said their changes will take affect as of April 21st, however, the fact of the matter is, people are using your website on mobile devices already and have been for the past couple of years. If you don’t yet have a mobile optimized version of your site, then you are not only missing out on ranking within search but are also failing at providing a user experience that caters to those users sufficiently.
Some mobile web based facts that may be of interest
- More than half of Australians (53%), now own a tablet, laptop and smartphone device.
Deloitte Australian media consumer survey 2014 - Over the last 3 years, smartphone ownership has grown by 21% to 81%.
Deloitte Australian media consumer survey 2014 - 55% of mobile web users now use their mobile as either their primary or exclusive means of going online.
Inmobi report - 79% of Australian mobile phone internet users regularly research products and services online.
ACMA - Of those Australians who have an internet enabled phone, 53% access the internet more than 5 times a day, and 20% access it more than 15 times a day.
Sensis eBusiness Report
Act now!
Contact SWiM today for more examples of our work or to chat about how this change may affect your web presence.