Google’s latest algorithm update – an update concentrating on improving mobile experience by making sure you can get relevant answers no matter whether or not you’re on a mobile device – is set out to help benefit mobile-friendly sites on mobile devices. Algorithm updates have gotten a bad reputation for the catastrophic potential that they pose upon initial integration. A good example of this being Youtube’s infamous algorithm update that obliterated many Youtubers’ fanbases and put them out of a job. Now many have been awaiting Google’s algorithm update with bated-breath, bracing for the same possible devastation. In March, Google announced that they were preparing to update their mobile friendly algorithm sometime in between April and May, and it is finally here.
As of April 21st, the goal of the new algorithm is to, “increase the effect of the [mobile friendly] ranking signal,” but Google has informed users that the update will have virtually no impact on users that are already mobile friendly. The update is intended to happen gradually and will not cause a major drop in the support of websites that are considered “non-mobile friendly.” Instead, consumers should expect to wait about a week or more, before all of the changes are fully integrated into the index.
This page level change will have no effect on searches from smartphones, tablets, or desktops, instead only taking place on searches from mobile devices across all languages and locations. Still, even with the smallest bit of impact, having a mobile friendly website positively influences SEO, making it easier for people to locate results related to a webpage. Search engine optimization, commonly abbreviated to SEO, is the process of affecting the visibility of a webpage in a search engine’s unpaid (also referred to as natural or organic) results. To test individual pages to see if they are mobile friendly, many have been utilizing the Mobile Friendly Test.
This update is not the first time Google has endeavored to improve the mobile experience and it is certainly far from the last, as Google is constantly re-innovating their process. Concentrating on “getting good, relevant answers,” it’s clear that there will be definite improvements in the future―if not already―from this latest update.