Google Looks at Mobile User Experience in 2014
At the risk of sounding like my grandparents, I can remember the days when I would lug out a huge yellow directory whenever I needed to find a dry cleaner, mechanic, or florist, and flip through page after page of businesses. When I compare that to turning on my laptop, typing in a two or three word search, and getting instant results, it is truly amazing. I mean, how easy is that? Well, as it turns out, ever since I got my new Samsung Galaxy S5 smart phone, hauling out that big ol’ laptop seems like such a hassle.
Whether you are reading about trends and statistics, or discovering it for yourself, mobile search is clearly where the buyers are when it comes to online marketing. For some time now, industry experts have been talking about how it is absolutely essential to have a website that works on mobile platforms. Not only do you want prospective customers to be able to use your website on a mobile device, you first want them to be able to find you, and Google may not even include your site in mobile search results if it is not mobile-friendly.
According to a recent Search Engine Land article, Google could soon be raising the stakes in mobile search by evaluating mobile user experience as part of its ranking algorithm. This means that having a mobile site that is functional will not be enough – it will need to also be user-friendly. Googlebot, Google’s crawling bot or spider, is capable of looking at your site the way an actual user would see it on their mobile device. When the bot renders the page, Google can see how the fonts look, what size the buttons are, as well as how the page scrolls. Based on what it sees, Google can evaluate how user-friendly the site is for mobile users compared with other mobile sites. Whether or not Google does decide to add this evaluation to their ranking algorithm in the future, remember that making sure your site’s mobile user experience is the best it can be will increase the chances of prospects using your website, and ultimately giving you the sale.
Back in the days of the aforementioned yellow directory, a common marketing strategy seemed to be naming your business to begin with the letter “A” so it would appear at the top of the list. Now, of course, things are a little more complicated. At Upright, we are helping clients meet mobile marketing challenges with strategies like responsive website design. We work hard to stay out front as online marketing evolves, and we are here to help you get where you need to be. Give us a call to discuss your online marketing goals.