August 17, 2016

Scenario: 

You quickly grab your phone to Google the nearest hair salon. The search results come up, and you click on the first one. To your dismay, not only can you not read any of the tiny type, but also you can’t click on the impossible links to navigate the page! What use is that salon to you? On to the next listing…

Reality:

Now imagine your customer doing the same, and instead it’s your business’s website that they can’t navigate? Not only did you just lose an appointment, but now you have a potential customer who will always remember you as the salon that let him/her down.

Upsetting, isn’t it? Google thought so too.

So they decided to take action. Google’s new algorithm, to be implemented within the next several weeks, revamps their search-ranking algorithm to put mobile-friendly websites on top. Flash software that won’t load? Bottom of the pile. Tiny text and impossible to find links? There goes your page one search result placement! Google wants to reward websites that put an effort into responsiveness – a simple willingness to meet their customers where they are. Bottom line: If your website isn’t mobile friendly, you’re out. 

This revamp is looking to make big waves in the website world. Out of the 177 million sites Google links to, which ones are mobile friendly? Forrester Research estimates 38% of all sites for business larger than 1,000 employees aren’t going to make the cut. With this in mind, we can only imagine the number of small businesses who will be bumped to the bottom the moment this rolls out.

So how can a business stay on top? A mobile website must follow three rules:

1. Create big text and easy links.
2. Customize graphics for the mobile space.
3. Highlight key points and stick to the basics

It’s time to amp up your mobile game and stay at the top of the page. Meet your audience where they are – or where they might be. After all, they are mobile.