What is a mobile-friendly website?
A mobile-friendly site is a website which has been programmed to automatically adapt content so that it is easily readable for the device it is being accessed from, such as mobile phones and tablets. This optimizes the user experience across all viewable devices.

Even more forward thinking, a responsive site works on the principle of flexibility and immediately resizes the page, text, images and spacing appropriately–no matter what type of device or screen size the website is being viewed from. The benefit of a responsive website is that the site utilizes the content in one site, and will work on ‘next year’s’ devices without having to add a new layout, making this the better return on investment.

Why does Google care if your site is built this way?
The use of mobile devices is on the rise. Last year marked the first that mobile Internet traffic surpassed desktop traffic.

Google’s ultimate goal has always been to create the best user experience possible. Websites that do not have a mobile equivalent can be difficult to read on small screens, buttons can be hard to press, and some technical features designed for desktop screens can break or not work at all on phones and tablets. Issues like these led to the idea that all sites should be able to detect the type of device it is being viewed from. This way, the site could automatically adjust according to its screen width, creating a more seamless browsing experience for users.

What will happen if I do not address the new criteria?
The most recent Google algorithm updated in late April uses mobile-friendliness as one of their ranking factors, thus penalizes sites that are not mobile-friendly. These websites may suffer negative SEO and decreased search engine rankings.

In creating consequences for those who do not have mobile-friendly sites, Google is pushing everyone to revisit his or her website and hopefully enhance it to collectively provide better user experiences.

How do I know if my site meets the new requirements?
If you’re unsure whether your website meets the new criteria, you can use Google’s free mobile-friendly test to analyze your website and receive suggestions on how to improve it.

Can Winnow Creative help me improve the mobile-friendliness of my site?
If you have a website that isn’t mobile-friendly or that was built long ago (5+ years), it may be time to consider modifying your site so that you don’t alienate your audience.

Winnow Creative can transform your existing site into one that is mobile-friendly and responsive and meets Google’s new requirements. Additionally, if your site is on the older side, this may be a good opportunity to redesign your site, bringing the programming code, user experience, and look and feel up to date. We develop our sites on a popular content management system platform that makes updating and editing your site much simpler.

We have been working with many clients to make these upgrades in the last few months. We recently updated our own website to make it mobile-friendly. We’d love the opportunity to work with you to optimize your website for the best user experience and search engine ranking.