People are using their phones and tablets to browse the Internet more than their desktop computers. In fact, game consoles and smart TV's are starting to appear on the radar. Soon, we anticpate car dashboard's and home appliances will have browsers built into them. It is imperative that your website is able to respond to this wide variety of screen sizes.
Here are a few things to consider about Google's recent update and responsive sites:
Google is Taking Mobile to the Next Level
Google's plan is to raise the bar in terms of mobile-friendliness. Because users are spending more time on mobile devices as opposed to desktops, Google is trying to optimize its mobile search experience.
The first thing Google did was add a mobile-friendly label to deserving sites in its mobile search results. Now, it's taking things further by releasing a new algorithm update.
According to a recent Search Engine Journal article, Google's mobile-friendly algorithm update will change mobile search results worldwide:
"In just under two months anyone with a website has had to measure their mobility and if necessary, adapt to mobile-friendliness in order to maintain their search presence with mobile users. Forget Panda, forget Penguin, mobile-friendly is arguably one of the biggest updates in all of search history - Google's announcement affects mobile search results worldwide."
Responsive Sites are More Than Mobile-Friendly
As always, businesses will need to react to Google's SEO update. Something many businesses will do is switch to responsive design. Responsive sites automatically adapt to whatever device they get accessed from. They're mobile-friendly and also function well on desktops and laptops.
Google Recommends Responsive Sites
We know that Google wants to see more mobile-friendly sites and we know that responsive sites are mobile-friendly. Therefore, it's no surprise that Google recommends responsive design. There are several reasons behind this which deal with Googlebot, but what you really need to know is that switching to responsive design can enhance your SEO and improve your page rank. We expect to see the number of responsive sites rise as a result of Google's algorithm update. To talk more about responsive design get in touch.