More and more people around the globe are shifting to mobile gadgets such as smartphones or tablets to access the internet. Let’s face it; these mobile devices are a lot cheaper than its predecessors, like laptops and PCs. Aside from being affordable, the reason why it is advancing in the market is it is portable. This is also partnered with the cheaper data plan alternatives offered to its users. Now, people can move around and still keep in touch with what’s online. They can also work while commuting to the office or can finish homework while sitting in cafe. This is also why a lot restaurants and coffee shops offer free WIFI to its customers. It is now part of its service.
For this reason Google, the leader in search engine optimization, has released a statement that on the 21st of April its search engine algorithms will launch new changes. These changes gear toward prioritizing websites that are mobile-friendly.
What does mobile friendly mean?
Mobile friendly means that websites are configured in such a way that is clearly viewed using a tablet or smartphone. The website’s interface automatically sets according to the screen size of the gadget and so the entire interface of the website can be seen on the screen. There is no need to minimize or maximize the screen. Unlike other websites that are not configured to mobile gadgets, mobile friendly websites usually have an option at the bottom of the page that links to the desktop version or mobile version.
How do you convert your existing website to mobile-friendly?
Google wants to be fair to everyone that is why it announced ahead of time its movement towards mobile friendly sites. For those with existing websites that are not yet mobile friendly, there are some steps to take in order to adjust your website to a more mobile friendly one. Google has even released a list of guides on how to shift your existing site to a more mobile friendly site.
First is to run your website through the “Mobile-Friendly Test.” It is easy to use; you just simply type your url on the space provided and click Analyze. In less than 10 seconds, it will give you a quick feedback if your site has a mobile friendly version or not. It will also give you a number of resources blocked by robots.txt, should there be any. From this quick analysis you can move to make the necessary adjustments.
Second, if your website does not have a mobile friendly version, then you can opt to hire a 3rd party webmaster to make the necessary adjustments for you. This step might be expensive for those with tight budgets but if your website’s purpose is to sell products, then it is highly recommended that you invest on a webmaster otherwise your website will not reach the top results of the search engine list therefore can even cost you your entire business.
Third, if the second step is really out of your budget, then you can create a website from scratch and just use other web software such as joomla or WordPress to put your website into. Doing this will lessen your costs because such software has mobile friendly algorithms; so no major adjustments are needed.
All the above mentioned steps are vital in creating or adjusting an existing website and converting it into a mobile friendly one.
What will happen if you don’t make any necessary adjustments?
It is simple; your website will not appear at the top of the search engine list. This is not something pleasing for website that purely exist as an online retail or wholesale store. You want your website to be at the top of that list every time because that will also dictate the success of your business. If you do not make the necessary adjustments to create a mobile friendly site, then even if the customer types the exact name of your business on the search tab, it will still not be at the top of the list. What can appear are businesses with similar names as yours and that means that your competitors beating you easily.
In Conclusion
Change is constant. People are never satisfied even if what they have is enough. Because of this crave for improvement; we undergo a series of changes throughout this lifetime. If we do not follow these changes then we will just be left behind. This is mostly true in this technological day and age. So if the leader of the pack initiates change, then the rest of its members must change with it. Google wants to move towards the mobile friendly direction, and then all its dependents must follow these changes. It is a sink or swim world and if your business and life’s work is dependent on this then you have to swim.
Learn how to create a more mobile friendly version of your existing website because this is how you make your business sustainable and surviving.