Google Mobilegeddon version 2 is coming! Is your website ready?
3 Minute Read
You now have a beautiful new mobile friendly website right? Awesome! Now throw it in the trash. Google’s new algorithm update (Mobilegeddon version 2) for mobile page speed will affect your ranking in Google search results in the near future.
Yup you heard right folks yet another algorithm update from Google and this time around it is yet another update for the one thing we can not live without. Our entire lives revolve around a thin piece of 7000 series aluminum that displays millions of pixels of entertainment, news, and important data no matter where we are, who we are with, or what we’re doing. Our smartphone is with us at all times. Pretty soon we’re going to see “In the smartphone we trust” on the back of currency in the form of Starbucks… Anyway, what does this mean for both mobile friendly and non-mobile friendly websites? Last month, Google rolled out its second version of “mobile friendly update” AKA Mobilegeddon version 2. This means not only does your website have to be mobile friendly (displaying on smaller screens), it now has to load extremely fast for the end user!
So now what? As Bane said in The Dark Knight Rises “Time to go mobile!”
Here’s why : No matter what industry you serve understanding the size of the target market can mean the difference between winning and losing. But how can we win if no one is keeping score? Within three years from now in the year 2019, nearly half of the population of planet earth 1, will be carrying a smartphone in their pocket, purse, or fanny pack.
So in order to kill ten birds with one stone stop thinking desktop and start thinking mobile. Planning ahead for mobile page speed and optimization can make or break your company’s mobile ranking which is the present/future of where your customers currently are. The numbers don’t lie, especially when it comes to SEO. Page views from mobile phones 2 account for almost 40% of traffic across the entire web, which is up from 21% the previous year. An astounding two times the increase in page views and all of which coming from a mobile device.
Gary Illyse of Google3 said this update (Mobilegeddon version 2) is just months away!
We sometimes forget to take a step back from all of this statistical analysis and ask ourselves, “how can I leverage these changes in my favor.” Nobody is calling Google with requests to stop their algorithm updating. Google puts these filters in place for a reason, to filter out bad user experiences (nobody is waiting 10 seconds for your web page to load!).
To bring all of this into perspective, back in 2010 Google rolled out the ranking based on web page speed for desktop browsing. When Google noticed 4 their users are slowed down there is less engagement. A slower web page means slower business metrics and no upward mobility. Revenue is how a business with a customer base grows. Raise your hand if you want less money… Ok, no one did. Web page speed, whether it be on a desktop or your mobile device, slow = less efficient and faster = more efficient.
Visit this link to see if your website is “mobile friendly” 5 according to Google. The test will return your results as well as provide you with some suggestions on how to improve your mobile site.
Sources:
- http://www.statista.com/statistics/330695/number-of-smartphone-users-worldwide/
- http://chair10marketing.com/seo/studies-show-the-increasing-importance-of-mobile-friendly-websites/
- http://searchengineland.com/google-says-page-speed-ranking-factor-use-mobile-page-speed-mobile-sites-upcoming-months-250874
- http://searchengineland.com/google-now-counts-site-speed-as-ranking-factor-39708
- https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/mobile-friendly/