Barely a month ago after the launch of Google’s Mobilegeddon, how search engine optimization (SEO) in general is coping with the major algorithm update? How is your brand coping with Mobilegeddon? Have you noticed any changes? If you haven’t been to these uncharted territories yet, here are what you should do with your optimization efforts following the aftermath of April 21 Mobilegeddon.
Check how Google displays your site
Aside from the mobile-friendly annotation below your domain name, with Mobilegeddon comes new structures for mobile URLs. Mobile results pages show page locations in breadcrumb-like formats. This is not a bad thing though because you can actually manipulate your mobile URLs through schema markup. If you are not going to use this to signal Google, it will simply show your domain name.
Thus, this is highly recommended if you want to capitalize on better URL presentation that Google strives for in the first place. You will not only save valuable real estate on mobile SERPs, but you will also be able to display high-signal details about your website.
Create mobile-based baseline reports
Do this for your own website and your clients’. The report will allow you to get a good glimpse of the traffic that you are getting from Google mobile search. Thus, you may decide whether the algorithm update impacts your site or not.
Log in to your Google Webmaster Tools account. Click ‘Search Traffic’ at the sidebar then, drop down to ‘Search Analytics.’ Click ‘Devices.’ You may also compare the number of total clicks and impressions per device on two separate date ranges.
Further, you will notice the difference more clearly by comparing the total impressions. Fluctuations in the number of impressions are indicative of changes in your rankings in search engine results pages. Hence, keep monitoring your data particularly organic visits and unique visits.
Emphasize a progressive mobile experience
At least two years prior to Mobilegeddon, web design and development and even SEO focus on the simplified user experience (UX) concept. The goal is creating mobile experiences that provide important information that mobile users are actually looking for, and that’s it. Mobile users appreciated this because they are always on-the-go and they don’t have much time to dig deeper into contents.
Nevertheless, you can always make this better by aligning your mobile optimization efforts on mobile usage. For example, mobile devices are equipped with innovative features such as cameras, microphones, GPS, accelerometer and gyroscope that not all desktop computers and laptops have. Google used and integrated these innovations in its search product including location-based searching using GPS and voice search.
Improve the mobile search experience
Now that you are seeing how the update affected your website, it is time to focus on search experience optimization, which Matt Cutts often emphasizes in his videos. About 40% of websites are not mobile-friendly before April 21st. Definitely not an impressive figure especially that searchers are becoming mobile-first users. Mobilegeddon is a conscious decision on the part of Google.
Check your page load speed. A mobile website should load in just 1 second on mobile devices. Also, check the common mistakes often encountered in mobile browsing. These are mobile-only 404s, faulty redirects, unplayable contents and blocked image files, among others.
Next, optimize for Google’s mobile assistant called Google Now. The app makes use of a natural language UI for answering inquiries, making recommendations and performing specific actions. Think of you how you can integrate Google Now with your website to better help your users in finding the information that they are searching for on their mobile devices.
Add deep linking into your Android app, if you have one. If your app is already installed on a mobile user’s device and the user searches for your keyword, Google will display your content on mobile SERPs as well. Noticed that Google Search for Developers now includes both web contents and apps. Thereby, SEO is no longer about websites alone, but also applications.
The fact remains: it is no longer safe to continue operating without a mobile-friendly site. In fact, it is no longer about deciding whether to become mobile-friendly or not. Such mindset is so 2013. Enter Mobilegeddon.
The goal right now is to make mobile UX as good as desktop mobile UX or even better if possible. In doing so, your mobile-friendly website will not only generate more links and drive more traffic, but it will also delight more mobile users.
Article by Vishal
Meet Vishal Gaikar, the tech wizard hailing from Pune, India, who's on a mission to decode the digital universe one blog post at a time. When he's not tinkering with gadgets or diving deep into the digital realm, you can find him concocting the perfect cup of chai or plotting his next adventure. Follow his tech escapades on Twitter and buckle up for a wild ride through the world of innovation and geekery!
