"Mobilegeddon" Is Coming on April 21 - Are You Ready?

[mediamole]

Thought you might be interested to learn things are stepping up a bit when comes to Mobile and SEO for Google.


Few things get a webmaster’s attention quite like waking up to a Twitter feed filled with news about a major algorithm update. In the world of SEO, hummingbirds, pandas, and penguins are akin to the Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Most algorithm updates come with vague or no warning, but Google recently announced, "Starting April 21, we will be expanding our use of mobile-friendliness as a ranking signal. This change will affect mobile searches in all languages worldwide and will have a significant impact in our search results."

Full article:

http://searchenginewatch.com/sew/how...-are-you-ready

[Mike Hughes]

Thanks for the heads up on this. Google Webmaster Tools sent me a message back in mid January telling me to 'Fix mobile usability issues found on .....' so I guess I'd better spend some time on it.

Mike

PS. The usability errors they report are:

Usability error
1 Viewport not configured
2 Small font size
3 Touch elements too close
4 Content not sized to viewport

This can be found under: Webmaster Tools > Search Traffic > Mobile Usability

Does anyone with a 2014 responsive site know if Google is happy with it?

[maroni35]

I ran it on one of our smaller sites which I have upgraded to sd14. In webmaster tools in the mobile usability settings you get it to run on a particular page and check the current status of that page.

Prior to that in a sd13 site then I had the four failures that you mention.

Running on current version then I got a score of 99/100 and it passed 4 rules, but had Consider fixing for Size Tap distance. So I assume that consider fixing is better than a fail. This is a pretty much a vanilla sd14 site. So in answer to your question it looks like it does pass but there is a little bit of room for improvement.

Consider Fixing:
Size tap targets appropriately

Avoid plugins
Your page does not appear to use plugins, which would prevent content from being usable on many platforms. Learn more about the importance of avoiding plugins.
Configure the viewport
Your page specifies a viewport matching the device's size, which allows it to render properly on all devices. Learn more about configuring viewports.
Size content to viewport
The contents of your page fit within the viewport. Learn more about sizing content to the viewport.
Use legible font sizes
The text on your page is legible. Learn more about using legible font sizes.