What You Need to Know About SEO and Google’s Mobile-Friendly Update

You’ve probably heard by now that Google updated its algorithm to factor in mobile-friendliness. In this blog, we’ll explain everything you need to know about the update in terms of your SEO.

It’s an algorithm update, not a penalty

There was a good deal of panic right before the algorithm update. Many businesses owners are aware of Google penalties, and they didn’t want their site to receive one.

But this development wasn’t a penalty, it was an update. A recent Practical Ecommerce article explains how this affects your SEO:

"Because mobile-friendly is an algorithm update and not a penalty, it will act to benefit pages that pass Google’s mobile-friendly test. Yes, this in turn will negatively impact pages that do not pass Google’s mobile-friendly test. But the impact will be a loss in rankings to the degree that your competitors are able to outrank you based on their mobile friendliness. Your pages may rank lower as a result, but they will not be banished from search results."

Your page rank will either rise or fall

Basically, your site’s page rank will either increase or decrease as a result of the algorithm. This will be determined by whether or not your site is mobile-friendly.

The good news is that Google is completely transparent when it comes to mobile-friendliness. You can check to see if your site is mobile-friendly, and if it’s not, then you know how you can improve your SEO.

This is likely the first of a series of mobile updates

And finally, Google’s update was likely indicative of its new strategy. When Google releases an update, it typically rolls out new versions once or twice a year. If you’ve ever heard of Panda or Penguin before, then you’ll know what to expect from future roll outs.

Google’s update likely had a sizable impact on your search engine optimization. Although it wasn’t a penalty, the update could have damaged your page rank if your site isn’t mobile-friendly.

To talk more about SEO, or anything else, please contact us. Thanks.