In April 2015 Google is launching an important algorithm change (how it decides to rank websites in the search results).
As more and more users of Google are using smart phones to search online, Google are changing the mobile search results to favour websites it has deemed to be mobile-friendly:
“A page is eligible for the “mobile-friendly” label if it meets the following criteria as detected by Googlebot:
- Avoids software that is not common on mobile devices, e.g. Flash
- Uses text that is readable without zooming
- Sizes content to the screen so users don’t have to scroll horizontally or zoom
- Places links far enough apart so that the correct one can be easily “tapped”
Google have even created a tool which you can use to see if it deems your website mobile friendly: https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/mobile-friendly/
If your website was built a while ago it is unlikely it will be deemed mobile friendly by Google.
If your website was built more recently and uses a responsive template* it is more likely to be deemed mobile friendly by Google.
At Indigo Marmoset we have been ahead of the curve! All our web design packages include responsive web design as standard and all the sites we have built from November 2012 have been built with responsive themes. You can view these sites on our portfolio page.
There are murmurings this will also have an impact on the desktop search engine results or is likely to in the future.
If you would like more information or a quote on making your website responsive please get in touch. You can also read more about this on our responsive web design blog post.
*The navigation and layout of the content responds and changes depending on the device being used to view the website in order to provide a good experience for users across a variety of devices from desktop computers to smartphones.