In 2011,
Google announced the release of their Google bot-Mobile web crawler
that was designed to search for mobile-specific content. A few months after
this announcement, web developers began saying that Google would likely lower
page rankings for websites without mobile-friendly content. They guessed right.
In the June 11, 2013 post on Google’s Webmaster Central Blog,Yoshikiyo Kato and Pierre
Far wrote, “Smartphone users are a significant and fast growing segment of
Internet users, and at Google we want them to experience the full richness of
the web.”They go on to say,“To improve the search experience for smartphone
users and address their pain points, we plan to roll out several ranking
changes in the near future that address sites that are misconfigured for
smartphone users.”
Non Mobile-Friendly Websites
When a smartphone user visits a non-mobile website, they
might have difficulty understanding what products or services that you offer.
In addition, navigation is often confusing and frustrating. If your website is
not mobile friendly, you can expect most of these visitors to exit your site
and never return. And it is estimated that over 50% of web surfers will be
using smartphones for searches by the beginning2014, so it is time for business
owners to pay attention to the other half of their audiences.
Google's June 2013 announcement listed two of the most
common errors seen in websites that have unsuccessfully attempted to create
accessibility for smartphone users: faulty redirects and smartphone error pages.
Faulty Redirects
Websites that try to accommodate mobile phones often use different
URLs for desktop and smartphone users. “A faulty redirect is when a desktop
page redirects smartphone users to an irrelevant page on the
smartphone-optimized website”, writes Kato and Far.For example, a site that
will soon lose search engine ranking is one where all the“pages on the desktop
site redirect smartphone users to the homepage of the smartphone-optimized site”.
This faulty redirect might confuse a smartphone user and they
will likely leave your site. The solution is plain: Redirect smartphone users
from a desktop page to its equivalent smartphone-optimized page. If you don’t
have the content in a smartphone-friendly format, link to the desktop content rather
than redirecting users to an irrelevant page.
Smartphone Error Pages
Some desktop URLs display an error page to smartphone users.
There are many causes of these error pages and here are some common ones.
·
Sending mobile phone users to an error page:Instead,
redirect smartphone users to smartphone-optimized pages instead of a “Not Found”
page (404 error page).
·
Directing mobile phone users to an irrelevant
page instead of the content a user is looking for:If a page on your site
content is not available in a smartphone-friendly format, direct the mobile
phone user to the desktop page instead.
·
Embedding unplayable videos: Many websites contain
videos that work well on desktops but don’t work on smartphone devices. For
example, if the video requires Adobe Flash, it won't be visible on an iPhone or
Android versions 4.1 and higher.
These are just a few examples of why Google will soon be
penalizing search engine rankings for sites that aren’t compatible with
smartphones.An equally motivating factor for business owners to optimize their
sites for smartphones is the user experience. If your user becomes frustrated,
you will potentially lose a lead or sale every time a smartphone user visits
your site. Smartphone internet surfers rely on convenience, speed, and accuracy.
Your mobile site should be a complete version of your desktop site that loads
quickly and displays properly in every mobile device.
Are you wondering how to get started? Paveya can help get
your site ready for every variety of smartphone out there with development and
extensive testing.
For more Contact:
Paveya
8452 Caratoke Hwy, Suite 702
Powells Point, NC 27966
855-372-8392
http://www.paveya.com/
info@paveya.com
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