All the way back in the stone ages of March 2018, Google finally moved to ‘Mobile-First Indexing’. While the reaction from the vast majority of Small Business Owners was best described as a variation of ‘what are they talking about?’ it was a fairly significant announcement.
In simple terms, this marked the point at which Google started prioritizing the readiness and performance of your Mobile Site, over the traditional desktop format. ‘Mobile Compatibility’ has been a factor in Google’s ranking algorithm for some time, but this was the point at which it really took precedence. If you want to get ahead Online, your Mobile Site is now one of your primary concerns.
Below we talk through 4 of the most common queries and objections we had in the wake of Google’s shakeup.
‘People use their computer to find my Site!’
To confront the question, it’s probably best to ask yourself how your time on the internet is usually spent. Be honest, if you need to find something Online, are you somebody that’s likely to head downstairs to the study and boot up your trusty family computer? Alternatively, is there a greater chance of you slipping your phone out of your pocket and tapping away from the comfort of your sofa, train seat, or favoured drinking establishment?
Just like 99.9% of Australia, we’d wager you’re in the latter camp. We’re not trying to tell you that nobody owns a computer anymore, but we are trying to tell you that everybody owns some form of a smart device. Google themselves have repeatedly published statistics showing how more than 50% of searches now come from Mobile. All of this means that you need to be doing everything you can to ensure that your Mobile Site is user-friendly, and a representation of your Business that is likely to help you pull in dollars.
‘My Site isn’t Mobile-Friendly, I’m doomed’
If your current Site isn’t optimized for this shift, it’s not the end of the road for you. However, you are at the stage where you need to invest a little time and money in getting yourself into the present day. Just like every other piece of digital technology out there, Websites age and fall behind. The difference here is that as well as all being judged by all of your potential Customers, you’re also getting judged by Google itself. And, if it hadn’t been made clear yet, they look pretty unfavourably on non-optimised Sites.
Getting yourself a Mobile-Friendly offering doesn’t need to cost you an arm and a leg, and the vast majority of developers will build you an entirely new Site across all platforms for a single cost. Get your feelers out there and get started.
‘I do Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), won’t that take care of it?’
In a word: NO. SEO is one of the fundamentals of Online success, and we applaud your for doing it, but it’s not going to save your bacon here. Ultimately, you need both a Mobile Site and SEO. The latter is going to help Google and other Search Engines to see just how relevant and interesting your Site is to browsers, and the former is going to prove that everything you’ve got is easy to access, read, and interact with.
If you’ve got great SEO being done on your Site, don’t view it as an antidote to the Mobile-First move, because you’re going to end up going backwards. Combining both is what is going to help you rock Online.
What can I do then?
The first thing you need to do is check just how ready your Website is. There are a lot of tools out there that’ll give you a Mobile-Friendly score, and they’re a pretty easy place to start. If you think you’re in need of an improvement (and relax, there are plenty of others just like you out there), then get in touch with an expert who’ll be able to clearly discuss your options with you.