We’ve been saying it for years and if you don’t already know, Google prefers and ranks sites higher if they are mobile optimized. Several blogs and thousands of contacts later we’ve been stressing how important responsive web design really is. Google is now firmly backing that up and on April 21 expect big changes in the way your website ranks, especially on mobile searches.

The details of course from the search giant are scarce, but will be mostly based on a Yes/No page-by-page basis. In other words, it will simply check each page of your site and give it a Yes or No grade on if its mobile friendly or not…there aren’t any degrees of mobile-friendly or not.

There’s a couple way to check your site:

1. Check your site on a search result, does it have the ‘Mobile-friendly’ text next to it like this?‍
2. Try Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test tool by clicking here

On April 21st Google will start rolling this new search algorithm out, it’s expected to take a few days to a week to go global and be fully completed. However, they have been collecting information using their Googlebot for the last month to update the rankings so implementation should have an immediate effect.

Here’s the top 4 things Googlebot is looking for:

1. Avoids software that is not common on mobile devices such as Flash
2. Uses text that is readable without zooming
3. Sizes content to the screen so users don’t have to scroll horizontally or zoom (responsive web design!!)
4. Places links far enough apart so that the correct on can be easily tapped

So your site isn’t ready, now what?‍

Be prepared to drop in search result rankings, or take action. Did you know according to Small Biz Trends over 60% of searches on now from a mobile device?

What can you do?‍

See how easily we can convert your existing site into a responsive Wordpress website that conforms and meets all of Google’s mobile criteria. Or, let us create an all new amazing responsive website from scratch. Every website RedShark Digital creates is carefully crafted with HTML5 and CSS3 design to not only meet and exceed a mobile friendly site, but also gives your visitors and customers a unique and easy to use site no matter what device they use to access it.

Come see why we have 100% client satisfaction with all of our website projects, from start to finish!