Google’s Mobile-Friendly Algorithm to Roll Out this April
Google’s next major search update deeply focuses on delivering quality “mobile-friendly” search result rankings. The update is expected to be larger than previous Panda and Penguin algorithm updates.
This type of news isn’t necessarily shocking from Google; after all, Google has been placing a firm emphasis on mobile-friendliness for the past two years, reminding users of its importance in Google Webmaster Tools. On April 21st, the algorithm change will alter the search landscape. Websites that are not mobile-friendly will sustain a negative impact on search visibility whereas websites optimized for being mobile-friendly will be more prominent in search results. Additionally, websites optimized for mobile use will gain a significant “boost” as well.
The algorithm change is expected to make a big impact on all languages, worldwide.
However, it is still quite unclear if the algorithm change will affect desktop search results. The change can happen instantly or scheduled for a later date.
It is imperative to switch your current website layout to be a mobile responsive website, using CSS3 (the latest standard of Cascading Syle Sheets). Responsive web design is explicitly designed for mobile and tablet users, rearranging, hiding or displaying information across a plethora of devices. Additionally, CSS3 is expected to show all data equally across devices, including desktops.
To ensure your website(s) are optimized for the upcoming update, you can run your site with Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test. If your website is not mobile-friendly, it is encouraged to adapt quickly into a responsive template before April 21st. The adaptation gives Google enough time to crawl through your pages, index them and effectively displays your website on the results page.
