There’s a lot of buzz about Google giving sites with mobile-friendly ratings better ranking on mobile search results. This buzz is due to the wake created by the announcement on Google’s Webmaster Central Blog of their new Googlebot Mobile-Friendly Test. Overall it’s a good thing for everyone to be aware of this tool, so they can optimize their mobile site. Although it’s unfortunate that the buzz is coming a little late for some people since Google had announced back in June that they were giving preference to mobile-friendly sites, Moz gave everyone a good warning and plan of action for their mobile optimization back in July (http://moz.com/ugc/the-definitive-guide-to-googles-new-mobile-seo-rules). So it’s a bit disappointing that people have only now begun to take it seriously.
The best thing for SEOs to consider, at least when trying to stay ahead of Google’s maneuvers, is to always be mindful of the user experience. Whether you’re white hat or black hat, your external strategies are always going to be affected by user behavior. A considerable amount of Google’s updates to their algorithms have been an attempt to predict or adjust to user behavior and Google’s recent strategy with mobile searches are just a reflection of that. Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test is a good tool. It will help people realize what they should be correcting to improve their site. Webmasters and SEOs should also bookmark that Moz link (above) and refer to it when evaluating their own site(s). Personally I’m tired of seeing crappy mobile sites when browsing from my iPhone or iPad, as I’m sure plenty of other people are too. With any luck this move by Google will help motivate the internet community to fix their own little corner of the web.
Here at Internet Marketing Team we always encourage our clients to be aware of their site design, including the mobile view. As an Phoenix SEO firm we know that the best way to optimize our strategies is by ensuring that our client’s landing pages are providing an ideal end-user experience. Attracting traffic won’t matter if you can’t keep those people on your site. This isn’t just limited to optimizing a landing page for mobile-friendly view, it also applies to evaluating internal SEO keyword distribution and placement, site design, and content optimization. As a part of our SEO Services we offer integrated and personal consultation for internal SEO strategies. Of course if you’re the do-it-yourself type, then using the Google Mobile Test is an excellent place to start.