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Happy Mobilegeddon! In case you haven't heard, today is the day Google is changing its search algorithm to favor mobile friendly websites.
The new update will give rankings priority to websites that perform nicely on mobile devices, but it's important to note the new algorithm will only apply to searches from mobile devices. If someone searches for your non-mobile responsive site from their laptop, the existing search rankings shouldn't be affected. But, if someone searches for your website via iPhone, and your website has not been optimized for mobile, you should expect to see your site take a significantly lower position in search results. This new algorithm should not affect searches from tablets.
There are a few ways to know if your site has been indexed by Google as mobile friendly. The most reliable of which, is to search for your website on a mobile device, and see if it has been labeled by Google as mobile friendly. When Google’s results come back, you will see small text near the website name that says ‘Mobile Friendly” – or not.
To qualify as mobile friendly, your website should be -- surprise, surprise -- mobile friendly. That means not relying on things like Flash, ensuring your links are far enough apart so that they can be opened with a finger, and ensuring all images are rendered on a mobile screen without zooming or scrolling. You can check here for a full list of official Google requirements – but beware, it's a LONG list.
Google has also created a tool that allows you to analyze your website and see how mobile friendly it is, and where it can be improved. The tool is brutally simple to use, simply put your URL in and Google will tell you how it sees your website. It will tell you any areas Googlebot thought were mobile unfriendly, and help offer solutions.
While the new changes take place today, Google first hinted they would be making these changes in December 2014. If your webpages are not currently mobile friendly, you should expect to wait anywhere from a few hours to several days for Google to recognize any changes. Larger sites can take significantly longer. What's more, the algorithm could take a few weeks to finish rolling out, so if you have not updated yet you may still have a few days.
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