Numerous media commentators and journalists dubbed it as ‘Mobilegeddon’. On 21^st April, 2015, Google rolled out its mobile search rules, or in other words, mobile algorithm change. While it didn’t cause any worldwide panic, the true impact of this new algorithm change will become apparent in the upcoming weeks and months. In simple terms, the search engine has changed the way it ranks the web pages; instead of depending purely on businesses according to its ranking rules via SEO, it will not give priority to websites that have been optimized for mobile devices. This means that these websites will be visible first to consumers when they conduct an online search.

This is very important because availability and relevancy are closely linked. If it is not available on your phone, it will not be considered relevant by most people. The new algorithm introduced by Google will scan every webpage of a website for testing responsive design elements, load times and mobile best practice. It will test if text can be deciphered without the need to zoom, whether your links are adequately spaced in the page so no wrong link is clicked accidentally and whether the content fits the screen without needing any zooming or scrolling. Furthermore, usage of Flash is going to become a major problem.

This is because most mobile devices don’t support Flash and its use will also be penalized by Google in search engine rankings. Consumers are rather gleeful that these problems will be eliminated, but this isn’t good news for businesses as they have to optimize their websites. Luckily, a tool has been created by Google to aid marketers and website owners in checking if their website can be termed mobile ready. There are no degrees of mobile friendliness; currently it is just a yes or no. They may be introduced in the future, but so far there is nothing.

One benefit is that even if your website isn’t mobile friendly, it will not have an impact on how it is ranked on desktop. The search engine has stated that for now it is focused on optimizing mobile searches so people using their devices for search purposes can enjoy a good experience when they open a link in the search results. Another worth mentioning fact is that this update will not have any impact on tablet searches for now, but it should be planned because this update will be around the corner.

Marketers should not just try to pass the test of making their website mobile ready because they will not be exploring the full potential of their website in this way. You may get on the first page of search results and get traffic, but conversion rates may not improve because there isn’t any major effort. Thus, the goal should be to make websites as mobile-friendly as possible and not just enough to clear Google’s test. Mobile-friendliness will give your websites a boost in search engine rankings and that’s the whole point of SEO. You can preserve your website’s rank as long as other SEO tactics are also implemented.

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