The Mobile Search Universe Changes on April 21st: Will Your Site Survive or Suffer?

Line ’em up. If you haven’t already, it’s time to get your mobile ducks in a row.

You shouldn’t be hearing this for the first time now. If you’ve attended an automotive conference, followed this blog, or tried looking up information on your smartphone over the past few years, you have already been bombarded with this message: you need to deliver a great mobile experience to remain relevant online.

What makes for a great mobile experience these days?

An effective mobile website can be adaptive, responsive, or simple and old fashioned, depending on how you choose to run your business. (We recommend responsive design. Don’t know what that is? Check out this 60-second video.)

Text should be large enough to read. Content should be easy to scroll through. Links should be spaced far enough from each other that clicking on the one you want shouldn’t require the precision of a microchip technician.

Most importantly, your mobile visitors shouldn’t feel irritated.

Reorganizing the Mobile Ecosystem

Why are we revisiting this tired topic? Because Google is once again shaking up its search algorithm.

On April 21st, Google will begin to place a high priority on “mobile friendliness” when ranking its mobile results, yet another fine-tuning experiment to enrich their product. If your website isn’t deemed mobile friendly, then you could see your site bumped from the front page of the search results, leapfrogged by more tech-savvy competitors. Even just one lost lead originating from someone’s smartphone or tablet could mean a few thousand dollars lost from your cashbox.

Currently, all of Strathcom’s premium websites have the mobile-friendly distinction. But a lot of other dealer websites don’t.

If we run your website, expect it to hold strong or even gain ground in the new mobile ecosystem.

Google’s Mobile Changes: What you need to know

If you want today’s highlight reel at a glance, here it is:

• This change affects mobile searches only (i.e. smartphones, tablets, etc.)

• Sites optimized for mobile experience will rank higher than those that aren’t

• If you rank higher, you get more leads

And if you want more specifics on April’s changes, Google has covered the announcement in theGoogle Webmaster Central Blog.

Check to See How Your Site Will Fare

Want to know what Google thinks of your current mobile site? Drop your URL into the Mobile Friendly Test and you’ll see one of two outcomes:

If your site is deemed mobile friendly, you’ll get the green light. Green, the colour of money.

If not, here’s the stern warning you’ll get from the search doctor telling you to change your ways or go the way of the dinosaur…