On April 21^st, 2015, Google came out with a game changer that flipped SEO on its head, Mobilegeddon. Mobilegeddon is essentially an algorithm update that gives priority search ranking to websites that are mobile friendly. If a website isn’t mobile friendly, it will appear lower in the search results. This change was inevitable, as nearly 60% of searches are mobile based. Of course, you’ll want to have your website in top, mobile shape to not only avoid being buried in the search results, but also to offer the best user experience possible. This guide will give you everything you need to make sure your website is ready for a post-Mobilegeddon world.

Google judges a page’s mobile friendliness through a bot that measures the following criteria:

Avoids software that is not common on mobile devices, like Flash

Uses text that is readable without zooming

Sizes content to the screen so users don't have to scroll horizontally or zoom

Places links far enough apart so that the correct one can be easily tapped

You can check these requirements by entering your website’s URL into Google’s mobile-friendly test. Google will automatically run a quick analysis of your website to determine if it is mobile friendly. https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/mobile-friendly/?utm_source=wmc-blog&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=mobile-friendly If it passes great! If it doesn’t, Google will highlight the work you need to do to improve.

It’s time to think about your mobile visitors and take steps to optimize their web experience. For starters, a streamlined website design is paramount. Include large and easily accessible buttons, larger fonts, visible photos, and easily accessible crucial information. Try to put more information on one page so that users will be able to scroll through. Keep the links to a minimum. Also, when placing information on your website, it is important to note the limitations of the mobile platform. Avoid putting too much information so that your website feels clunky.

Your website should also offer social auto fill. This will save your users crucial time and make logging into your website infinitely easier. It’s a proven miracle worker as well. Data from Formstack shows that conversion rates shoot up to 189% when users are provided with auto fill. Make sure that users are easily able to utilize your forms as well, such as sign-up sheets. You’re going to want to make your forms easy to fill out on a smartphone, so that users aren’t poring over their screen when entering information. Obviously, it’s crucially important for conversions as well.

An important thing to consider is that you’ll need to optimize your website for all mobile devices. That means testing your website on a variety of devices to make sure it looks great on smartphones as well as tablets. Try to optimize your website so that you can give users a solid experience no matter what device they are on.

Mobilegeddon is indeed changing the way we perceive effective web design. However, by embracing the change and creating a mobile website that jumps to the head of the pack, you can turn this drastic change into a major victory for your business. Not only will your mobile website get a boost in the search results for being mobile friendly, you’ll also see much higher conversions and user satisfaction from a perfectly designed mobile website.