Google has been preaching the benefits of fast and mobile friendly sites for some time now. With the percentage of users coming to websites on mobile devices increasing, having a mobile-friendly site is a must. As of April 21, 2015, Google will use mobile responsiveness as a signal in their ranking algorithm.
Google announced the upcoming change to their search algorithm back in February, but it has caught many website owners by surprise. USA Today reported on April 21, 2015 that TechCrunch found that 44% of the Fortune 500 companies failed the mobile friendly test. No doubt after today, many IT departments will get urgent calls asking for a website upgrade. Full disclosure, this website is in the process of a recode, with one of the goals being mobile responsiveness. To help developers modify their sites to be mobile friendly, Google provides a Webmaster's Mobile Guide which includes tips, a testing tool, and examples. The mobile friendly test in particular is a good way to test your site for mobile responsiveness. Some quick tests with Google's mobile testing tool show that many top sites are already mobile responsive. But there are some that fail the test, witness pbs.org. The PBS (the Public Broadcasting System) website failed the mobile friendly test (see Figure 1). Here are few tips when converting your site to mobile responsive. The amount of work required to make a website mobile responsive depends on how it was created. If the site was created in a CMS like Wordpress recently using a recent theme, you may be in luck. More recent themes in Wordpress are already mobile responsive. Older sites will most likely need to be converted using the above techniques. There are plugins out there that will make your site mobile responsive, but these typically show only a simplified menu and are a halfway measure to full mobile responsiveness. Google may start labeling mobile unfriendly sites as such in mobile search results. With Google now factoring in mobile responsiveness into mobile search rankings, making your site is mobile responsive has just become that much more important. Not only will your mobile visitors stay longer and convert more, Google will bless your site as mobile friendly.Google Mobile Responsive Juggernaut
Google Mobile Tools and Tips
High Profile Example
Tips for Mobile Friendly Sites
Conclusion
Further Reading
By website optimization on 21 Apr 2015 AM