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April 15, 2015 by Design Usability, Mobile-Friendly Web Sites

Is Your Web Site Mobile-Friendly?

In case you did not know, Mobilegeddon has occurred and we have Google to thank for that.

Why This Should Matter to You

This update rewards web sites for being mobile friendly, but penalizes web sites that are not. In other words, if your site is not easy to view on a mobile device, such as an iPhone or Android phone, your site will significantly drop in Google’s search results.

Considering that 48% of search traffic is mobile*, and that nearly 77% of mobile phones owned in the U.S. are Smartphones**, the change in search engine priorities makes sense.

Does Google Think Your Web Site is Mobile-Friendly?

Try Google’s Free Mobile-Friendly Test to check if your current site is considered mobile-friendly. It’s a simple Yes/No response (if it says “Yes”, then you have nothing to fear).

What Makes a Site Mobile-Friendly?

  • Fonts scale easily for reading on smaller screens
  • Touch elements are easy to use and spaced ergonomically (not overlapping with others)
  • No Flash elements
  • Fast page load time
  • Mobile-friendly consistently throughout web site (not a mix of mobile-optimized and non pages)

Don’t Panic

It’s not the end of civilization as we know it if your web site is not mobile-friendly yet. There’s still time. Since Google’s new algorithm will be “real time”, you can update your web site to a mobile-friendly format and quickly recover your lost search rankings.

Mobile Matters, Seriously

Mobile devices are here to stay (as you would like your customers to be). Make the switch to a mobile-friendly web site and improve your customer’s online experience with your business, as well as your Google search rankings.

 

* Portent Study

**Marketing Land (April 12, 2015)

About Orysia

Orysia is a creative-minded individual with dreams of beautiful, usable design.