This isn’t exactly breaking news, but it is finally becoming imminent – Google will now be ranking sites based on your mobile-friendliness. Basically if you just feed to smartphones and tablets the same version of your site that the desktop user sees, you’re going to be demoted.
Now, this only applies to those searches done on mobile devices. However, with the only accelerating growth in that demo, this will have serious consequences for your SEO – and your business.
What can you do? Find out where you stand right now by checking Google’s mobile-friendly testing tool. Just enter your website address and it’ll tell you where you stand:
https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/mobile-friendly/
If you get the Unfriendly result, then it’s time to look at some options. If you’re using WordPress you have some good ones. There’s plugins like WP Touch that give you an easy, if limited way to get in Google’s good mobile graces.
If you’re not on WP, your host may have an add-on that lets you set up a mobile version of your website. You choose from some templates, etc. and in not too much time you’re good.
SEO is always moving, but you can count on one thing today, and that’s Google’s focus on User Experience. This is just one more way they want to make sure they’re giving searchers the best results possible.
Yes, it’s one more thing, but if it helps you rank and communicate better with your prospective new customer, it’s worth it.