For a long time you’ve been hearing that your website needs to be mobile responsive, but now it’s no longer a suggestion, but a requirement.  That is, if you care about organic traffic and ranking in Google search engine results (hint: you should)

The Google Change

In November of last year, Google announced that they were experimenting to make a mobile-first index.  That means that Google is going to serve search engine results based on the mobile version of content before they serve any results for non-mobile responsive website results, even for desktop users.

Why the change?

Google has had a long history of catering to the users’ needs and values a positive user experience, which can be attributed to why Google is the success it is today.  That said, as more and more searches occur on mobile devices, the index and results should provide solutions for the majority of users.

What if I don’t have a mobile website?

Well, first, you really should.  More and more internet users are utilizing mobile devices, and are more likely to bail on a non-mobile website than ever before.  The good news is, we can help.

Second, if you don’t have a mobile site, the search engine will still crawl and index your current site.

When does this take effect?

Google has already been testing this mobile-first index.  While we don’t have a definitive date from Google as they’re still testing, it’s best to be prepared sooner rather than later.

Ranking Criteria

Previously, Google has ranked websites based on various criteria from your desktop website.  However, they will now rank based on criteria from the mobile version instead.

The Good News

Google stated that if you have a responsive website or a dynamic serving site where the content and markup is the same between desktop and mobile, you don’t have to change anything.  This has been a long-time standard here at Raine Digital, so if you’re one of our clients, no need to worry.

What if I need help?

If you’re concerned about this change, and how it will affect your website rankings and organic traffic, reach out to us for a free consultation.  We’re happy to help!