April 22, 2015

Google just changed the world again

Yesterday, April 21, 2015, Google began rolling out their "mobile-friendly" update to their search algorithm.

You can see the details here.

You may be asking yourself, "How does this affect me and why should I care?".  I know.  I ask that question all the time and usually I answer my own question with: "It doesn't and I don't."  Or, sometimes, I answer with "It does affect me and I still don't care."

Granted, there are way too many things to care about (Google changes or otherwise) to care about them all.

However, if you're a business owner, content manager, advertiser, SEO nerd, website manager, or simply have a hobby web site, you should care about this one.

In the simplest terms, this change means that if you own a website and want to be found by the bulk of potential visitors (i.e. mobile visitors), you need make your site mobile friendly.

This change is like when the government rolls out new standards governing water heaters or incandescent light bulbs.  The difference with this Google change is that there is no grandfather clause. If you have a website, Googles rules DO affect you and they affect you starting now.

Google has made a helpful tool to analyze your site to make sure it is compliant.  If you get the dreaded "Not mobile-friendly" message, you should update your website as soon as possible.

There are several ways to make your site mobile friendly.  As with most things that increase with complexity over time, it is best to have a web professional "fix it" for you.  But, if you're feeling brave, here are some resources.