Just recently, Google announced that their search algorithm is going to include, as of April 21, 2015, even more mobile-friendly factors.
Google has already started to use even more information from app content as a factor in ranking as of February 26, 2015.
We put an emphasis on “even more” because Google has had mobile optimization and app content at the top of the list as search engine ranking factors for quite some time now. Forbes published an article in 2012 pointing to how seriously Google takes optimization for better mobile experiences. The 2015 algorithm changes are however going to make mobile optimization and mobile apps matter further more.
Photo Source: Proprium Marketing
“As more people use mobile devices to access the Internet,” Google explained, “our algorithms have to adapt to these usage patterns.”
The popularity of mobile internet along with the rise in smartphone sales has pushed many websites, business or otherwise, towards a more mobile-friendly approach. However, many are still non-optimized, which makes it difficult for smartphone users to have a good experience. These new changes will affect how sites show up in search queries. Specifically, non-optimized web pages will rank lower in the search engine, Google looking to help users discover more mobile-friendly content.
Also happening as of April 21, 2015 is that the App Indexing mechanism designed by Google will begin to use information as a factor in ranking for signed-in users who have the app installed. In other words, mobile applications that Google indexes will rank better in searches from mobile. This is probably a good time to also mention that Google will be using more and more of those mobile-friendly labels they have been testing for months.
Photo source: Search Engine Roundtable
Although App Indexing is only relevant today for Android apps and it requires users’ sign in on installed apps on their mobile device, it is still a big change, Google saying that it can now surface content from indexed apps more prominently in search. This new ranking algorithm will provide users with more relevant app content from mobile searches.
Provided on Google webmaster pages are a few guidelines to a mobile-friendlier webpage, testing for your websites’ mobile-friendliness and more info on App Indexing.
