It's been hailed as 'Mobilegeddon' and while that might sound like a ridiculous new Hollywood Blockbuster, Google's change to its algorithm in favour of mobile devices means one thing for you and your website; RESPONSIVENESS! According to the internet giant, when it comes to searches on mobile devices they're keen to get the most relevant and timely results to their users – which includes you, I and the world – no matter if the information lives on mobile-friendly web pages or apps. Naturally as more and more people are accessing information on their mobile devices, Google needs to help adapt the way this information is viewed, indexed and configured to meet the various devices on which it is displayed. But, saying that, the onus is very much on you as a proprietor of a website, to make your content viewable across a range of devices. From April 21st Google will be expanding its use of mobile-friendliness (responsive web-design) as a ranking signal within its search engine. In short this means, if your website is designed with mobile in mind it will help in your overall ranking, conversely the opposite is true as well. What does this mean for your business? Apart from a less than optimal experience for customers on mobile devices, causing a higher website bounce rate (customers landing on your site and leaving immediately), your site traffic could decrease and ultimately business could suffer with fewer leads, sales and revenue. This change will affect mobile searches in all languages worldwide and will have a significant impact on search results. Consequently, users will find it easier to get relevant, high quality search results that are optimized for their devices. So if SEO is high on your digital agenda, then after April 21 it should be even higher and if mobile friendly design isn't, it should be, else you could find your website relegated to the bottom of Google's search results.
If you're wondering whether or not your site is optimised for mobile devices such as phones and tablets, Google does have a few tools to help you out. Their guide to mobile-friendly sites, is a great start for those who might not have developer tendencies.
If you have a website page which you would like to test you can use Google's Mobile-Friendly Test.