Is your Google ranking plummeting?

At 7:31am, the average person rolls over in bed or steps out of the shower and checks their phone for the first time. During the course of the day, they’ll spend around 3 hours 16 minutes using their device, for up to 140 different tasks.

Given this, it’s no surprise that this week Google launched a search engine update, prioritising sites compatible with mobile devices.
What does the Google update mean for businesses?

If your current website is mobile optimised, fantastic – you’ll see a spike in search engine traffic.

However, unresponsive websites will drop down the mobile search result rankings, meaning better performing competitors could steal your business.

Take Google’s mobile friendly test to see how your website performs.

As Google searches websites page by page, it’s vital to ensure that every section of your website is optimised – not just the homepage.

Is it too late to do anything?

The good news is, if you make changes today, Google will pick up your new, mobile-friendly status within 72-hours, so quick-acting companies can overcome issues before too much SEO damage is done.

In fact, Google is rolling out the update over several weeks, which means now is an optimum time to make updates.

How can I increase my website mobile-friendliness?

Format is key. Ensure your website is built responsively, so that the layout automatically changes according to the end user’s device, so it’s readable and can be easily navigated.

If you don’t want to rebuild your existing website, consider creating a separate site for mobile traffic. It’s worth investigating what search terms mobile consumers use to find your site, as they could be different to your desktop site, which will ultimately affect your mobile Google ranking.

There are other, small changes you can implement that make a huge difference to mobile consumers’ experiences, such as:

1. Setting image widths to 100% so that they display properly on all devices
2. Using word-wrap with long strings, to prevent text running off the end of the screen
3. Keeping text short so that mobile users don’t have to scroll too many times
4. Avoid fixing the position of headers and navigation bars
5. Selecting standard rather than customised fonts

Fieldworks can optimise your website design and copy to drive online business. Get in touch with us to find out more about our services, including digital audits, creating SEO optimised content, responsive web design and pay per click (PPC) advertising.