Google Sends Notices to Webmasters With Sites That Are Not Mobile Friendly

Google has made two strong moves towards encouraging (or gently forcing) all webmasters to become more Mobile Friendly. Could this mean Google is launching a new mobile algorithm update soon?

The first move was in November 2014 when Google added a “mobile-friendly” label into Search Results. This means that people searching on their Smartphone may see your website in Search Results and scroll right past it because the lack of a “mobile-friendly” label means it could be slow to load, hard to navigate and difficult to view.

Google’s second move occurred just two days ago (January 19, 2015) when they started sending out notices through Google Webmaster Tools. The “Fix mobile usability issues found” WNC-451500 message looks like this:

Note that Google warns website owners that “these pages will not be seen as mobile friendly by Google Search” and will be “displayed and ranked appropriately for smartphone users”.

Did you receive one of these notices? Are you worried yet? With most websites averaging between 30-50% of traffic from mobile users a drop in mobile visibility could be hugely detrimental.

Several thought leaders in the SEO industry believe that this is just one more indicator that Google is going to be launching a new mobile algorithm soon. Others think that Google has targeted this message directly to website owners who are knowingly not mobile-friendly.

Stop putting off a mobile website upgrade before it’s too late! Give us a call at 1-888-262-6687 to discuss your mobile website or preview all our Mobile Website services.

More news articles on this topic:

• Search Engine Roundtable
• Search Engine Land

Carissa Krause

Carissa Krause is a Digital Marketing and Project Specialist at 1st on the List. Over the last 13+ years she has worked in our Abbotsford office with clients on a wide range of projects that include areas like local SEO, project reporting, backlink profile review, content development, strategic planning, and more. Whatever the project may be Carissa focuses on achieving greater efficiencies and putting plans into action. When away from her desk you’ll likely find her drinking all the coffee while sitting on the floor driving cars with her three young boys. Learn more about Carissa.

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