Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Google Mobile Friendly: Google’s Mobile Update

25 April 2019 Maxence Pezzetta
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Google has been working for some time now on the possibility of creating a search engine exclusively for mobile devices. Indeed, as mobile traffic is continuing to grow, user experience optimization on this type of media has become a major challenge for advertisers. Pending the arrival of a search engine exclusively designed for mobile devices, Google has come out with a new update of its algorithm on April 21st: Google Mobile Friendly.

A brief overview of Google Mobile Friendly

As you’ve probably guessed, Google Mobile Friendly aims to promote the search result positioning of websites that are “mobile-friendly” for users using mobile devices. It has been noted that this update currently only concerns smart phones and that tablets are not yet affected by this update. However, the different screen sizes between different mobile devices makes the boundary between smartphones and tablets increasingly thin. This update is therefore expected to quickly impact tablet devices.

Google had announced that the “Google Mobile Friendly” update would not penalize websites not optimized for mobile devices, but that it would simply further promote sites optimized for mobile usage. If we stop and think about this, we quickly realize that this statement makes no sense: if sites optimized for mobile devices benefit from a better positioning in search results this means that non-mobile sites will lose their positioning.

This is seen in the comparative table, found on the site “journaldunet.com“, which compares the positioning of 17 French sites with high notoriety (ones not optimized for mobile devices). The table below shows the evolution of their positioning before and after the implementation of Google Mobile Friendly:

tableau-etude-google-mobile-friendly-referencement-1

As explained by the journaldunet website, some results require further explanation/investigation, as the site rueducommerce.com did not actually suffer from a decrease in visibility in search results following the Google Mobile Friendly update. Indeed, the site already had a mobile version and the table above simply shows that the desktop version of the site lost visibility to make room for the mobile version. Indeed, it is only logical that advertisers who have opted for a mobile site in addition to a desktop site will see their mobile version positioned first for Internet users using this medium:

tableau-etude-google-mobile-friendly-referencement-2

This is not the case for all advertisers, and the upgrade of their desktop site to a “mobile friendly” version has become increasingly important if they want to retain their natural positioning. My Little Big Web is specialized in designing websites optimized for mobile devices, so do not hesitate to contact our team of experts if you want to modernize your site and benefit from better positioning in Google search results.

How to know if my site is mobile friendly?

The quickest and easiest way to know if your site is going to be impacted by “Google Mobile Friendly” is to search Google via your phone. If you see the “Mobile Site” next to the meta description of your page, you probably will not experience negative repercussions due to Google Mobile Friendly:

google-mobile-friendly-my-little-big-web

The other method is to use the compatibility test provided by Google, which will give you tips to adapt your site if the test is not successful:

google-mobile-friendly-my-little-big-web-2

For those who still have questions about whether or not you should update your site to a mobile-friendly version, the answer is YES! Mobile traffic will continue to grow and users will be increasingly accustomed to navigating on mobile-optimized sites. You must therefore evolve your online communication strategy, taking into account this mobile trend and tailor your messages according to the media used by your visitors.

It is astonishing to note the number of messages (emails, newsletters etc.) that we receive in our mailboxes that are not at all adapted to mobile media! More and more people are consulting their emails via their smartphone and even tend to be more attentive to promotional messages when they have “nothing better to do” (on the bus, waiting in line etc.). Advertisers therefore have an excellent opportunity to capture the attention of their target audience using mobile media. On the other hand, if a user has to scroll from left to right to read a message, they can quickly lose patience and send your message directly to the trashcan.

If you would like more information on this subject, you can read our article: Boost your conversions by making your emails responsive web design

Do not hesitate to contact us at 514 572 7758 or via our contact form if you wish to speak with an expert who will answer all your questions.

Maxence Pezzetta
Cofondateur et Spécialiste Web Marketing et acquisition de clients Diplômé d’une double Maîtrise en Marketing et Communication, Maxence cumule plus de 10 ans d’expérience en Marketing digital. Ancien employé de Microsoft, sa mission est de « mettre le Web à la portée de tous » pour aider les entreprises à améliorer leur présence en ligne.
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