If you don’t remember when Google rolled out the algorithm
change that we couldn’t ignore, it was April of 2015. This change, Google
promised, was the one had big implications for websites that were not
mobile-enabled—if you weren’t accommodating your mobile users, Google would
punish you by restricting traffic to your desktop site.
Google created a mobile-friendly
test website
Drop your url into a
field and click “Analyze”. Google will quickly tell
you whether you pass or fail. If you’ve failed, Google tells you what’s wrong
with your website. But whether your site passes the test or not, there’s a good
chance it’s not really accessible for mobile users—at least 60% growing. If you’re
a desktop user, you’re the minority and you’re not paying attention. Go
anywhere—an event, to lunch; stand in line at Starbucks or Peets in the morning.
People are accessing everything on their phones. And think about those in jobs
that don’t allow folks to sit down at a computer—these people rely on their
phones for information delivery—anyone in sales, healthcare, transportation,
etc. It’s endless.
Oddly, there wasn’t a
scramble to create new websites
For those of us in the web or internet marketing business, we
talked about Mobilegeddon to our clients, we blogged about it and tried to make
people understand the implications. But let’s be realistic. Creating a new
website is a huge initiative for any company. It requires a budget, committing
resources and hiring a web design developer and content developer and buying
images. All of this takes time, and most folks already have their day jobs and
they’re drowning. It’s important, but it’s a website, and it’s just one communication
channel.
Mobilegeddon: less apocalyptic
than expected
Now, with almost a year’s worth of data, the impact of Mobilegeddon
has been less apocalyptic than expected. Most online analysts now believe
Mobilegeddon lacked the finality its name suggested. In the days after the
mobile-friendly update, content marketing company BrightEdge tracked more
than 20,000 URLs and suggested that the number of non-mobile friendly pages on
the first three pages of the SERPs was down 21%. Other reports suggested the
concentration of non-mobile friendly URLs in the mobile search results dropped
by as much as 50%. Yet research is showing that non-mobile friendly sites
weren’t suffering as much as everyone predicted.
If the effect on
traffic hasn’t been significant, was the mobile-friendly update really worth
it? From
a user-experience perspective, the general consensus is yes. Serving more
mobile-friendly websites more often in mobile search results is a no-brainer. The
sales of smartphones is increasing, and if you’ve stood in a crowd of
millennials recently, you know the answer to this one.
Take a pragmatic
approach and simplify
Regardless of Mobilegeddon,
a website has a shelf life and it’s not unlikely that yours is due for an
update, and you’re going to want to be thinking about responsive design—that which
will translate seamlessly across all media—desktop, tablet and smartphones. All
of the platforms have themes, or templates, that feature responsive design,
including WordPress, Wix and SquareSpace.
Think about mobile
users as you start planning your new website
Mobile has
had a tremendous influence on the way that websites are now being designed
The format is simplified—gone are columns, complexity and
multiple moving parts. There’s less drilldown because scrolling is more
efficient when using mobile devices. Navigation is simplified, along with color
palettes, design and images. Make sure that the “hamburger” navigation element
is prominent at the top of the page and that contact information is accessible
on all screens. Make adjustments if phone numbers and email addresses are in
tiny fonts and difficult to read. Try to avoid reverse type—it’s often
difficult to read as well. Remember that not everyone is a millennial with
20/20 vision. Make it easy for people to get information.
Are you planning a new
website for 2016? Talk to us at Top of
Mind Marketing. We’re content
marketing experts.
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