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Beware! Your website is at risk of dropping in Google search results!

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Reading time minutes
By Patrick Schokker


Are you ready for the new Google update? Is your website's SEO in good shape now? As of April 21, Google can make it even better by adding a "mobile-friendly" tag to websites.

You may have already heard, Google is coming out with a new update. The mobile-friendliness of sites will be an SEO ranking factor starting April 21. I hear you thinking, what does this mean and what should I do? Don't panic. This blog is your lifesaver.

SEO ranking factor

SEO ranking factors are Google's "recipe. Using SEO ranking factors, Google determines how high your website will rank in the search engine. Examples of SEO ranking factors include the use of keywords, the number of words on a page and the frequency of updates. There are many more like this, but I think you get the idea. Starting next Tuesday, mobile-friendliness will also be in this list. By the way, this only applies to the mobile search results and does not affect the desktop version.

What will change?

In a nutshell, mobile-friendly websites will be given priority in Google search results on mobile devices. This announcement does not come as a big surprise to us, as Google has been experimenting with this for some time. The purpose of the new ranking factor is to encourage Web administrators to make their Web sites mobile-friendly. So, if you have a high ranking in mobile search results now, that could change next week if your website is not mobile-friendly. Your SEO and quality score in Adwords will also be affected by this. Of course, you don't want this, at least not in a negative way. Therefore, I will explain to you in a moment how you can avoid this.

Why should I do anything with this change?

As the name actually suggests, mobile-friendliness looks at how individuals experience the website from a mobile device. Mobile devices include not only smartphones, but also tablets. According to Google, if a website looks poor on a smartphone or tablet, there is a 61 percent chance that visitors will not return. After reading this, it is almost unimaginable that mobile-friendliness of websites was never a high priority before. Mobile traffic and mobile search is growing, which is why you are actually doing your website a disservice if you ignore this Google update. Through Google Analytics, you can see how many visitors open your website on a mobile device.

Mobile-friendly tag | two birds with one stone

So mobile-friendliness can affect the number of visitors to a website, according to Google. And starting next week, it will also impact your search engine ranking. Don't let the change come at the expense of your SEO. Maintain your spot by adding a mobile-friendly tag to your website.

In the same way, increase the number of returning visitors. In other words, kill two birds with one stone.

What to do.

Do you already have a mobile or responsive website? Then wait a moment to breathe a sigh of relief. Google may not rank your website as mobile-friendly. A website may be fine to use on a tablet, but still not rank high in mobile search results. Still no reason to panic, just follow this roadmap.

Step 1:
The first step is to look at what type of Web site you have. Google distinguishes different types of websites. And with each type, Google has different requirements for the structure of a Web site. Broadly speaking, there are three types of websites:

  • Responsive design
    With this design, the URL & HTML of your website remain the same for all devices. How the web page is displayed differs for each device, but everything content is the same.
  • Dynamic view
    With this type, only the URL of a Web site remains the same. The display changes for each device because the server generates a different HTML for each device. It is an advanced method, where the physical content is always tailored to the device.
  • Separate URLs.
    With this type, both the HTML and the URL change for each device. Visitors are redirected to a URL that displays the page optimally on the device being used.

Google has no preference for a particular type. As long as the structure of the website is good and pages are accessible, Google is satisfied. Do you know what type your website is? Then you can start meeting the specific requirements.

Step 2:

Before you start messing around with your website, it is of course useful to know to what extent your website is already mobile-friendly or in worst case scenario, not yet responsive at all. This can be done with special online tools from Google. The mobile friendliness tool immediately indicates how your website performs on mobile devices according to Google.

Is your website not 'mobile proof' yet? Read all about mobile-friendly websites in this practical guide. Another performance tool is PageSpeed Insights. It measures the loading speed of your web pages on mobile devices. This is done from the user interface. This tool also gives instant tips on how to make them faster.

Step 3:

Let's get mobile friendly! You have now gathered all the necessary information and can optimize the website if necessary. But where should you start? Put the advice, focused on the page level, in front of you. Determine which web pages are most important to you. Focus on them first, before you can no longer see the forest for the trees. This way, you will already have a number of pages in order that will make you score higher on mobile-friendliness. Are these ready? Then continue with the rest until your website is completely mobile-friendly and you have nothing to fear from Google's new update. In the most favorable situation, your website will be mobile-friendly by April 21. If this is not feasible, then it is important for your SEO that this is done as soon as possible.

Need help?

We have a broad knowledge when it comes to responsive websites and are open to helping you. Moreover, this change will directly affect the quality scores in your Adwords. Our Adwords specialists know how to respond to this and can advise you.

 

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Patrick Schokker
Patrick Schokker

About this schurq

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