How a Mobile Responsive Website Design Affects Mobile Ranking

Having a mobile responsive website design not only provides a great user experience, it can also affect how your website ranks in mobile search. Google released a search ranking update in April which takes into account the mobile friendliness of your website. Pages which are not mobile-friendly will receive a penalty in Google’s mobile search while those which are mobile-friendly will receive a boost in the search rankings.

There are certain criteria that Google considers when determining whether to rank your website in its mobile search.

What Makes a Page Mobile Responsive?

According to Google’s blog, the requirements needed include:

• Your website resizing its content to a user’s screen size.
• Text is readable without a user having to zoom in or scroll horizontally.
• Links are far enough apart so users can select the link they are wanting to tap.
• Software such as Flash that isn’t mobile compatible is not installed on your website

An easy way to test whether your website is mobile-friendly is to take Google’s mobile responsive website design test. Simply submit your URL into the text field and click “analyze.” You’ll know within seconds if your website meets Google’s criteria.

What to do if Your Website isn’t Mobile Responsive?

Your first step is to consult with a web development agency and discuss the options for mobile optimization. A good solution is to redesign your website using responsive web design. Responsive design is the process of designing a website to adjust according to various screen sizes. Text and images will shrink and enlarge depending on the size of a screen. This gives your website more of a fluid appearance. Your website will be viewable across various mobile and tablet devices.

Mobile responsive website designs are ideal for providing a great user experience. It is also the best option for helping to ensure your website will rank well in the mobile search results.

Contact us today to learn more about how mobile responsive web design can benefit your business website.