Google mobile friendly search
algorithm update
An iCrossing point of view
By Modestos Siotos, Technical SEO Director, Adam Skalak, Head of SEO, iCrossing UK and Scott
Sala, SEO Manager iCrossing US.
This document contains proprietary information of iCrossing Ltd.
Introduction
Google recently announced a major change in the way their search algorithm ranks results on
mobile devices. A new mobile-friendly algorithm is due to be launched on April 21st. This will offer
more relevant and higher quality search results for people searching on mobile devices.
What changes?
Currently, mobile search results are heavily influenced by the desktop version of the site. Ranking
factors include content, architecture, site performance and backlinks. When the new algorithm
is rolled out, mobile usability factors will play a much larger role in Google’s mobile search results.
In other words, mobile-friendliness will become a significant ranking factor.
The new algorithm will evaluate each page’s mobile-friendliness in real-time. This means that
sites can experience positive movements in mobile search results as soon as Google notices
mobile-friendly changes (and vice versa).
Update impact
Google has confirmed that the update will have a significant impact, bigger than the Penguin
and Panda updates when they were launched. The update is also expected to impact
searches in every region and isn’t expected to affect traffic performance on tablet.
After the update is released, mobile-friendly sites will rank better in mobile search; meanwhile,
websites that aren’t mobile-friendly will lose search visibility on mobile.
Which pages are mobile-friendly?
Google determines mobile-friendliness at page level. This means that for Google to recognise a
site as mobile-friendly, all pages must be optimised for mobile devices.
According to Google a mobile-friendly page is one that people can easily read and use on a
smartphone, by only having to scroll up or down. Pages that force users to scroll horizontally or
are difficult to read without zooming won’t be deemed mobile-friendly.
Google will use several criteria to judge a site’s mobile friendliness, including:

Does your content contain Flash?
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
Are your fonts too small?

Are clickable links/buttons too close to each other?

Do you have viewport tags configured?

Is your content sized to the viewport?
When it comes to mobile friendly sites, Google’s preferred set up is responsive but the other
options (separate URL with a mobile template or Dynamic Serving with a mobile template) can
work too. The important thing is that whichever option you go for, it needs to be set up correctly
with mobile usability and SEO in mind.
Google’s mobile search results already display a “mobile-friendly” label for pages that meet
certain criteria. Google has also experimented with a red “slow” label which distinguishes sites
that take a long time to load.
These labels make users aware of the mobile web experience they are likely to encounter and it
is expected to affect users’ click-through rates (CTRs) from mobile search engine results pages
(SERPs).
What you need to do
Brands are recommended to ensure that their sites are mobile-friendly prior to April 21st. Failure to
do this could result in loss of organic visibility and traffic as mobile SEO visibility drops.
Given the short notice, you may not have the time and resources to make sure your entire site is
mobile-friendly. As a priority, it is strongly recommended that your site is free from configuration
issues that may hinder mobile search visibility when the new algorithm goes live.
You should prioritise making important pages of your site mobile-friendly. The rest of the pages
can then be addressed depending on how important they are to your business after April 21st –
however, the more mobile-friendly pages Google finds on your site prior to the update, the
better.
You should aim to get as many pages as possible displaying the “mobile friendly” label and
eliminate any that may appear with the “slow” label.
Google has also provided a public scoring tool for mobile pages so you may measure your site’s
mobile friendliness.
It’s important to remember that this algorithm won’t crawl your entire site; it only works on a
page-by-page basis. It is therefore worth running a few of your site’s pages through the tool,
making sure to cover as many different templates and page types as possible. The tool provides
simple messaging to indicate mobile-friendly status:
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Google has also provided a decent amount of information on how to fix mobile issues.
Additionally, in Google Webmaster Tools under “Mobile Usability” in the Search Traffic section,
you will be able to see which mobile pages have issues, and you’ll find links to specific fixes for
the issues.
For further information or if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact
[email protected].
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