If you have questions about Google’s new mobile-friendly ranking change that takes effect April 21, 2015, Google will hold a live Q&A session next week.
The mobile-friendliness session, part of Google Webmaster Tools Online Office Hours, will be held March 24, 2015.
You can post questions ahead of the event to the Q&A panel or in the comments on the event Google+ page.
Several questions about Google’s mobile-friendly ranking change have already been answered in a prior Online Office Hours session, available on YouTube (one-hour session).
Note: if you have specific mobile issues related to your site, use the Google Webmasters Tools help forum.
Google Mobile-Friendliness Factor
Last month Google announced plans to include mobile-friendliness as a factor in their rankings. According to their announcement:
This change will affect mobile searches in all languages worldwide and will have a significant impact in our search results. Consequently, users will find it easier to get relevant, high quality search results that are optimized for their devices.
To help business owners, web designers, and web developers make mobile-friendly sites, Google published an online guide to mobile-friendly sites.
Google also provided two tools to test mobile-friendliness:
- Test individual pages with the Mobile-Friendly Test
- Review the Mobile Usability Report in your Google Webmasters Tools account
Google Notification Messages
For the past few months, I’ve received email notifications from Google for client sites that aren’t mobile friendly. The messages detail issues with the site and how to fix the problems.
I’ve followed up with my clients to plan changes for their sites, to make the sites mobile-friendly. In the past, I’ve discussed website mobile-friendliness with my clients, but Google’s announcement has speeded up the timeline for changes.
When you receive a Google notification message about issues with your site’s mobile-friendliness, contact your web developer or designer to discuss changes to your site.
If you don’t have a current designer or developer working on your site and have questions about the mobile-friendly notification you received from Google, reach out to me. I’m happy to talk with you about any questions you have about your site.
