2015 was a significant year, it was for the first time mobile and tablet searches overtook desktop searches both in the United States and globally. Moreover, in April 2015, Google rolled out an update which had a significant focus on mobile user experience. The ranking update gave significant emphasis to mobile friendly pages in googles mobile search results. Simply put sites which offered a richer experience on a mobile device were given higher rankings or had a higher probability of showing up in search result as opposed to sites which were not mobile friendly (To know if your site is mobile friendly, take the test here).
What’s coming your way?
It’s now almost a year since that update was released and in the May 2016 a new mobile update will be released which will increase the effect of the [mobile-friendly] ranking signal.
- If you don’t have a mobile site or a responsive site, it is critical to upgrade to a new responsive or a mobile site
- If your business has a one-page mobile site, it is the right time to either move to a responsive site or create a full mobile site
What happens if you don’t upgrade?
Google’s primary goal is to give its users the best search experience. Its latest search engine algorithm the hummingbird has allowed it to deliver a better user friendly experience by focusing around user’s intent and context of search. When a business has a one-page mobile site it offers limited capability to showcase all the property features and services and increases a high likelihood of higher bounce rate.
Final thoughts, Mobile is here to stay and will be a significant driver of traffic and revenue.
According to a study done by Yahoo! , 87% of smartphone owners use a search engine every day, and more than 50% of smartphone users view local information while on the move. It will be critical for businesses to have a mobile friendly website, or a responsive site to deliver a rich user experience.
At milestone we help clients get ready to take on the mobile world. For a client in Florida, Milestone had created an elegantly designed, mobile friendly website, after their responsive website went live, mobile traffic increased by more than 900%, from February-December 2015.
It is important for businesses to stay on top of the latest technology trends and deliver a rich web and mobile experience by keeping the customers’ needs first! If you have more questions regarding how to create a mobile optimized web experience please reach out to us, our team of experts would be happy to show you the latest best practices, [email protected]
Contributed by:
Gaurav Varma, Product Marketing Manager
