Google to penalize Non Mobile Friendly Sites

As more people are using mobile devices to access the internet, Google is making changes to it's search algorithm to include mobile compatibility as a factor for page rank. Google announced that the update will launch on April 21, 2015 and the change will affect all languages worldwide.

If your website is mobile-friendly then you have nothing to worry about, however if it isn't Google is warning that this change will have a significant impact on your ranking in search results. To put it simply, Google will award websites that are mobile friendly with a higher rank in search results than those that aren't.

Google held an hour long Google+ hangout to explain a bit more and answer some FAQ. During the session they mentioned that after April 21st the update will take from a couple of days to a week to be live globally. So, if you need to update your website you should consider doing so quickly to avoid losing any SEO work you may have invested in. 

What does mobile friendly mean exactly? Your website must be responsive to different screen sizes and types of devices.

Google argues that this update will greatly enhance mobile user experiences as users will be able to more quickly  access the info they're searching for through results optimized for their devices. You can test your website using Google's Mobile-Friendly Test.

It may all be an urban legend, but considering the power of Google's search engine in acquiring hits on your website/getting new business, is it worth the risk to ignore?

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