Your Site's Future Depends on a Strong Mobile Presence
June 11th, Google released a blog post covering common mistakes found on mobile sites as well as a quick notice that they're getting ready to roll out an update that penalizes sites performing poorly on mobile devices. This update also means a solid ranking boost for businesses that have invested in their mobile presence.
This shift comes as no surprise as 91% of adults in the US now have mobile phones and over 60% of those are smartphones. Research also predicts an incredible 80%+ smartphone adoption within the US by 2015. The smartphone number does not include people who are wired for mobile via tablets, but the same research tells us 34% of Americans now own tablets. With that type of search power on mobile it's no wonder Google hasn't done this sooner! Here's how Google reps explained it:
"To improve the search experience for smartphone users and address their pain points, we plan to roll out several ranking changes in the near future that address sites that are misconfigured for smartphone users."
Matt Cutts also went on to say that site speed will be a leading ranking factor for mobile sites moving forward as well. The other common negative issues found on mobile sites they outlined were:
- Faulty redirects.
- Serving up 404s.
- Slow or unresponsive pages.
- Incorrectly handling Googlebot-Mobile.
- Unplayable videos on smartphone devices.
- Be sure your smartphone-friendly page itself is not an error page.
He then recommended two resources to help ensure you get your mobile site correct.
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