For many South Carolina web design companies, this month is the busiest in recent memory. That’s because there is a hard deadline coming up—the kind of deadline that is relatively rare in the field of search engine algorithms. Google announced earlier this year that its search engine would start giving heavy priority to mobile-friendly websites on April 21, a statement that triggered a frenzy of redesigning and tweaking by designers to keep their clients at the top of the search page rankings.
Why the Algorithm Change?
No one argues with the data showing that Internet access on mobile devices is a huge factor for South Carolina web design. Some experts, though, are questioning the drastic move on Google’s part, which in effect will penalize any website that chooses not to optimize its format for viewing on smartphones and tablets. Whether that penalty is “fair” or not, sites that are anxious to keep their top keyword rankings on Google will have to become mobile-friendly if they are not already.
What Websites Need to Do
So, what are the “nuts and bolts” of this change? Charleston SEO experts will be making the following specific changes to their clients’ sites in preparation for the algorithm update, among others:
- Making web pages narrower and longer, rather than wider and shorter. That’s because it is easier to scroll vertically than horizontally on a mobile device.
- Increasing font size and reducing the total amount of text on each page
- Making links easier to manage on touch screens
- Minimizing page elements like menus and sidebars, which clutter small screens
Is Your Website Ready? It won’t pay to ignore the upcoming Google algorithm update! If your website is not optimized for mobile viewing, it will be important to update it as soon as possible. Call our internet marketing company in Charleston, SC for PPC, SEO, web design and all digital marketing approaches.