How does my mobile site affect my desktop Google rank?
Background
22nd February 2015, Google announced on their webmaster blog that they would be changing their algorithm on mobile devices to favour sites that are mobile friendly. They also introduced a mobile friendly testing tool which basically tells you whether your website fits within their guidelines or not (worth checking at this point if you haven’t already). According to this tool, if you have a ‘mobile version’ of your site you are mobile friendly, the same goes for if your website is responsive.
How is the mobile change affect your desktop ranking?
- Google loves responsive – Google’s new algorithm favours responsive websites over websites that aren’t mobile friendly, its as simple as that. Not only will a responsive website rank you more favourably on a mobile device but as Google see responsive design as ‘best practice’ they also use it as a ranking factor for desktop sites. Your mobile strategy WILL have an adverse effect on your desktop rankings.
- Click through rates (CTR) – Click through rates is a factor that Google uses to rank your website. Simply put, if you get fewer clicks through to your site and Google sees a drop in the number of visitors you get, then they will move you down the rankings. As 60% of people now use their mobile phones to search the internet, not being found on a mobile device is effectively SEO suicide if you want to appear anywhere near page 1 for your search terms.
- Responsive sites reduce bounce rate – Bounce rate is another factor that Google use to rank your website. Responsive sites 99% of the time are better designed for the end user and look more modern than non-responsive sites. An interesting homepage will reduce number of people clicking through to your site and then leaving straight away.
- Trusted website – By this I mean, if someone starts their search on a mobile and cant find you & then they search on a desktop and see your site, it is unlikely that they will think of you as a trusted site due to the fact you didn’t appear on their mobile search. This will likely decrease the number of clicks you get through to your website and as I said earlier this means your rankings will drop!
Conclusion
It is more more important now than ever before that you get a responsive website. Not only will you be in Google’s good books but you will also increase the amount of traffic to your site, which will mean more valuations and instructions! Whether you get a responsive website now or a year down the line could be the difference between the number of instructions you get increasing or decreasing on last years figures. If you are an agent looking to increase your online presence then our team of website consultants would be happy to talk you through your needs a requirements just call 0845 301 1198. We offer several different responsive options from templates to fully bespoke designs, all designed to get you valuations and instructions!
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