The Aftermath of Google’s ‘Mobilegeddon’ Update

We recently wrote a blog article explaining Google’s latest update and the benefits of going mobile. Now that the dust has had time to settle it is easier to see the full impact of the update and predict the ways it will affect online businesses long-term.

What is Mobilegeddon?

Mobilegeddon is the nickname given to Google’s Algorithm Update which was launched on April 21st. The update was created to improve the browsing experience of mobile device users by boosting websites that are optimised for mobile and penalising those which are not. The update is a result of the shift to mobile device search, which has now overtaken desktop in over 10 countries. At the time, The US and Japan were the only countries of the 10 that were confirmed as having a higher mobile search volume than desktop. However, during her talk yesterday (June 15, 2015) Eileen Naughton, Managing Director and VP of sales and operations for Google UK-Ireland, confirmed the UK to be another country in this list of 10, indicating the importance of going mobile for the UK market.

Impact of the Google Update on Your SME

The Google mobile update did not have as an explosive effect as some marketers and businesses feared. Some businesses saw no change in their rankings and some even saw an improvement in their rankings without making any changes, purely due to competitors with poorly responsive sites dropping down in search results pages.

Research shows an overall decrease of 21 percent in the number of websites which are not mobile friendly on the first three pages of search engine results pages with a 17.3 percent decrease on page one alone.

If you are unsure of the impact of the Google Update on your website here is two ways that you can check:

1. Perform the Google Mobile Friendly Test – Google have created a free tool that you can use to check how mobile friendly your website is.
2. Analyse your traffic – You can use your Analytics to look over your traffic in the period before April 21st and after to understand if there was any change, positive or negative.

What is the Long Term Plan?

If your website has not been affected by the update or has seen an improvement in rankings then you should not view this as your website having weathered the update storm. The update is said to be rolled out over a number of months, with it being less than a month since it launched. It is important to make your website responsive, not only to satisfy Google algorithms, but to improve your user experience, although the two do go hand-in-hand.

Since their beginning Google have aimed to provide the best user experience possible. They have made it clear that a website providing this for their users will see a natural improvement in their rankings. If you are looking to improve your organic placement in search engine results pages then following the indications and trends that Google are adapting their algorithms for is a good idea. 

Looking for a Mobile Responsive Website?

If you are interested in creating a mobile responsive website then Kommand website builder may be able to help. All of the website development packages we offer provide a mobile optimised version, allowing you to build a stunning website and have a mobile version ready straight away. Visit our packages page and avoid getting caught in Google’s Update storm.

• Newer
• Older