Google's mobile-friendly update. How significant is the impact for us?
-
Hi guys.
Recently I got an email from Webmaster-tools saying our site is poorly optimised for mobile devices, and that it’s going to heavily affect rankings from April 21st. I’m worried to say the least. We literary cannot afford a hit on traffic at the moment
We rank well for niche terms like ‘customised diary’ and ‘personalised diary’.
So question...
Because we rank well for these very specific searches will we still take a hit on rankings after the update? Won’t our high relevancy for those search terms be enough to keep us high in the results?
Also, do you know if this change is specific to the users device? E.g) Someone on a mobile device will get mobile-friendly results, whilst users on a laptop will get different results altogether?
I'm just trying to get a sense of how much this update will effect us. Any isights, suggestion, or thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Our site.
Thanks in advance. This community is invaluable to us
Isaac - TOAD Diaries.
-
Hi Dirk. Thank you so much again for your response.
Yes we must get your whole site sorted for our mobile users. But like you say focusing on the landing pages are essential Better get cracking!
Thanks again
Isaac.
-
Hi
according to this article http://searchengineland.com/google-mobile-friendly-ranking-factor-runs-real-time-page-page-basis-216100 Google has confirmed that it based on page rather than site level.
From user experience perspective it would be better to have the full site responsive, given the urgency it would focus on landing page.. Your designer tool pages seem not that important in terms of search - you could eventually put them on noindex if you don't want Google to see them, although I don't think this absolutely necessary.
Dirk
-
Hi Dirk. Thank you so much for you're response! Greatly appreciated!
On what you said....
"It also seems that it's defined on page - not site level, so you could try to provide mobile versions for your most important landing pages (dedicated or responsive)."
Is this to say that if our home page (and other landing pages) were mobile-friendly we may not see any change in (mobile) rankings? Even if these pages link to poorly optimised pages?
On our site our designer tool is where you buy our product. This is a very difficult page to make mobile friendly. So won't google just see that the majority of links are going to this page and penalise accordingly?
Thanks.
Isaac.
-
Google has stated that it's going to impact a large significant amount of results but it's definitely going to be for mobile only so you should check your traffic sources to see if you get a good chunk of mobile traffic.
Dirk is right so you should look at your pages that have good mobile traffic and push out a temporary solution for that until you get a good mobile end for your website.
Good luck!
-
"most discussions seem to agree that the impact will only be for mobile searches"
I agree this is Google's intent. I don't think it'll necessarily be the actual result. If you lose a lot of traffic or your bounce rates go up or your SERP bounce-back rates go up, etc. it could affect desktop search.
I think this update has the potential to affect desktop but as you said, difficult to predict. Great answer & very helpful.
-
There is a similar thread here: http://moz.com/community/q/what-if-my-site-isn-t-ready-for-mobile-armageddon-by-april-21st
If you have a lot of mobile visitors coming in via Google, I think you may expect that this traffic will disappear (unless your competitors aren't very mobile friendly as well).
Nobody really knows what the impact is going to be, most discussions seem to agree that the impact will only be for mobile searches, but again, it's difficult to predict.
It also seems that it's defined on page - not site level, so you could try to provide mobile versions for your most important landing pages (dedicated or responsive). Your lay-out seems pretty straight forward, so I guess it shouldn't be too difficult to adapt it Remember that it doesn't have to perfect - it just needs to pass the "mobile friendly" test - https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/mobile-friendly/ - you can always improve later on.
Hope this helps
Dirk
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Should I use 'Click here' as an inbound link for my cornerstone content?
Hello Should I use 'Click here' as an inbound link for my cornerstone content? Example: For a full selection of our Facebook Event Attendee packages, please click here. OR Example: Please click the following link for a selection of our Facebook Event Attendee packages. This is my product page to help you better understand the context: LikeChimp
On-Page Optimization | | xdunningx0 -
With generic product like screws, for example what is best practice when writing descriptions? It's tough writing unique content for something when the only difference is lengths
With generic product like screws, for example what is best practice when writing descriptions? It's tough writing unique content for something when the only difference is lengths
On-Page Optimization | | Jacksons_Fencing1 -
How often is your domain authority updated?
I can't seem to figure out how often our domain authority is updated - it seems random, do you know typically when this happens? Thanks!
On-Page Optimization | | regineraab0 -
Does Bolding Text Have Any Impact on SEO?
Someone told me it does but I thought that was old school way of thinking. Any thoughts?
On-Page Optimization | | tryfantasy1 -
How can you activate the 'Results From' internal search bar on Google SERP?
Hi There, I am hoping someone can advise me on getting the 'Results From' sitelink to display for my site on the Google SERP? I have searched far and wide for the answer with no luck. I'd really appreciate your advice. Thanks! Internal_Search_Google_SERP_zps75a5383e.jpg
On-Page Optimization | | tmg.seo0 -
Google vs. Bing
We are having some really good results with our SEO strategies for local search and long tail searches for our clients on Google; however, Bing is a completely different story in a couple of cases. What is Bing looking for that Google is not? We have even noticed that something may rank well in Bing then not show up at all in Google? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
On-Page Optimization | | Strategexe0 -
Same email address for two google places?
Should I use the same email address for two offices in two different locations for google places registration or am I better off using two different email addresses?
On-Page Optimization | | VivaArturo0 -
Google Instant Preview
Is there a way of having videos show up in google instant preview? Right now all I am getting is a blank space
On-Page Optimization | | casper4340