It’s Mobilegeddon! (But Fear Not If Your Website Is Mobile-Ready!)
In this opinion piece, Simon Dell (pictured below) – the managing director of creative marketing agency TwoCents – says if your website ain’t mobile-friendly then big trouble’s afoot. However, he argues, it’s a problem that’s easily rectified…
Mobilegeddon was a relatively major event in the online marketing world earlier this year. If you have a website for your business or brand, and you keep up to date on the latest digital marketing and SEO news, you might have already heard about it. If not, allow me to explain…
What is Mobilegeddon?
Mobilegeddon was Google’s “mobile-friendly” search engine update, which introduced mobile-friendliness as a ranking factor in mobile search results. Google started rolling this out on April 21st, 2015. It didn’t take long for webmasters around the world to start reporting a drop in mobile traffic and rankings on their non-mobile optimised sites.
So, why is Mobilegeddon such a big deal?
Everyday, Google makes major updates to their search algorithms that decide which websites deserve to rank highly, and which don’t. Most of the changes Google makes are minor tweaks to their algorithm with minimal affects on the majority of websites. In fact, most of Google’s ranking factors are not known for sure. But on very rare occasions, Google publicises an algorithm change before they make it. When Google does this, you can expect the update to have a major affect on websites!
Mobilegeddon was considered a pretty big deal because it was predicted to affect millions of sites across the web andGoogle announced it about 3 months ahead of time (sources here and here).
Does mobile-friendliness matter for my website?
The short answer is yes! If your website is not currently optimised, you now run the risk of losing search engine traffic from mobile searches.
More importantly, a non-mobile friendly website is very user-unfriendly, which means that you’ll annoy mobile users who do manage to access your website, and potentially lose their business to a competitor whose website that can navigate easily.
If you’re a numbers person, you might be interested to know the following stats on mobile internet usage:
- 80 per cent of internet users own a smartphone
- In 2014, the number of global mobile phone users surpassed the number of desktop users
- 48 per cent of mobile research for purchasing products starts in a search engine
- It’s not just mobile phones and computers… Smart TVs and Smart Watches are on the rise too, so a responsive website is more important than ever.
What do I do about it?
First thing’s first: don’t panic. Luckily, if your website needs tweaking, any updates you make will have an almost instant effect on your Google ranking. Follow the steps below to check whether your site needs a mobile-friendly update, find out how to make the changes, and what you need to do to stay ahead of the next big update.
Step 1: Check if it’s Mobile Friendly
If you’re not sure whether your site is mobile friendly, there’s a few different ways you can check. One simple way is to Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test Tool. All you have to do is put in your url and Google will tell you if it considers your site mobile friendly or not. It will also give you a preview of what their bots can see when they crawl your site.
To check if your site is responsive (responds to different screenwidths), open it in your browser. Make the window slightly smaller than the screen by clicking the squares in the top right corner between the cross and minimise symbols pictured below.
Drag the left or right side of the screen in and out. If the elements on your site respond to different screen widths… congratulations, you have a responsive website!
One other way to test mobile-friendliness is to just open the site on your smartphone and see what it does. If you need to zoom in to read the text, or scroll from left to right to see all the elements, your site isn’t mobile friendly!
Step 2: Make it Mobile Friendly!
If your site’s not up to scratch yet, you should make it your priority to convert it to a mobile responsive design. Talk to your web developer about your options here, as this can get a little technical.
Sometimes, an existing site can be converted to mobile-responsive by tweaking the styling. Without going into great detail here, the way this works is that the style rules (which tell elements on your site what size they need to be and where they go) can be adjusted to have “break points”. At different break points (or screen widths), elements on your site (including images, menu items, text, etc), will behave differently.
Often it is more economical to simply redesign a site from scratch to make it mobile friendly. Chances are, you could benefit from refreshing the look of your site, anyway.
Ask your web developer to provide you with some clear options. Don’t hold off on making the change because it is important that you start gaining back your mobile visitors as soon as possible!
Step 3: Test Your New Site
Once you have your mobile-friendly site, it’s very important to test it! Don’t assume that everything is working perfectly – sometimes even the best web developers make mistakes or miss a detail. If your site is now designed to be responsive, it should display nicely at all break points.
Test this by opening the site in your desktop browser. As we mentioned above, you can make the window slightly smaller than the screen by clicking the squares in the top right corner between the cross and minimise symbols pictured below.
Drag the left or right hand side of the window in and out. You should see the elements on your site move around to fit nicely at each change to the screen width. If you notice anything displaying strangely, take note of what it is so that you can ask your web developer to fix it.
Step 4: Monitor Your Analytics
Now that your site is fully mobile responsive, you should expect to see a number of changes in your analytics, including higher search engine rankings in mobile searches and more visits to your site. If you are tracking conversions, you might also see an increase in conversions as more people are able to use your site on mobile.
Check your Google analytics and other tools to see the effects of your website update.
Step 5: Keep Your Site Up To Date
It’s great that you’ve made an effort to modernise your site, but it doesn’t mean that you can sit back and relax until Google announces their next algorithm change. After all, mobile-responsiveness was a recommended feature by digital marketing and web design experts for years before Mobilegeddon was announced!
Ideally, you should stay on top of industry trends by surrounding yourself with trusted experts and advisers. In addition, your focus should be on continually adding useful features to your website and making it a better experience for your users. By focusing on great content and user-friendliness, you will stay ahead of future algorithm updates and create an online resource that your customers will want to keep coming back to.
Over to you now…
Latest News
KFC Climbs The Ranks For Advertisement Complaints
Ultra Tune has again topped the list as Australia’s most complained about advertiser for the first half of 2020. With a total of 1,747 complaints lodged with Ad Standards as of June 30 2020, an Ultra Tune ad featuring Pamela Anderson and Warwick Capper received the most with 309. Also in the top 10 most […]
TV Reporter Mugged At Knifepoint In Terrifying Live To Air Footage
A Brazilian TV reporter has endured a terrifying on-air moment after she was mugged at knifepoint during a live cross. CNN reporter Bruna Macedo was reporting on rising flood levels in Brazil’s capital São Paulo when a homeless man can be seen in the backgound stalking her. Macedo was chatting with studio anchor Rafael Colombo when the […]
Sunday TV Wrap: Fans Flock To Sunday Arvo Footy
Both yesterday afternoon’s NRL and AFL games enjoyed good TV audiences, as locked out fans turn to the telly. Seven’s AFL coverage pulled 435,000, while the Nine’s NRL did 406,000. This, of course, was OzTAM metro numbers and doesn’t include pay TV viewers or those watching in pubs or clubs. In the battle of the […]
Binge And The Iconic Combine For ‘Inactivewear’
BINGE, Australia’s newest entertainment streaming service, has partnered with THE ICONIC to create ‘INACTIVEWEAR’ – an exclusive line of unisex luxe-loungewear, launching on Tuesday, 7 July 2020. With over half of Australians (57 per cent) stating they’ve streamed at least 20 per cent more content during COVID-19, INACTIVEWEAR has been designed to provide Bingers with […]
Puffling Launches Progressive Employer Program
Talent platform, Puffling, has launched a new employer brand showcase, vetting organisations before applying based on the three key future of work pillars: Diversity, Flex and Culture. Whilst unemployment numbers continue to rise and many organisations gear up for restructures and further staff cuts, top performers are becoming harder to attract given market instability. Puffling […]
Isentia Announces New Culturally And Linguistically Diverse Media Monitoring Service
Isentia has today announced its Culturally And Linguistically Diverse (CALD) media monitoring service, to expand coverage to non-English publications across the country. The new service monitors foreign language publications across Australia and provides editorially curated article summaries in English, together with links to the pdf of the original article. The new service covers eight languages; […]
The Reality Of The New Econsumer: Are Brands Ready?
In the beginning of 2020, all sorts of ‘predictions’ around consumer confidence and ecommerce were made – predictions which are now utterly irrelevant. In the space of a few months, life irrevocably changed and predictable consumer behaviour was thrown out the window, along with a lot of ‘normality.’ So where will the consumer be left […]
Carat & Thinkerbell Join Our Watch To Highlight Non-Physical Abuse During COVID-19 Confinement
The COVID-19 crisis and the associated forced isolation and restricted movement, has led to an increase in reports of domestic and family violence. Women who are experiencing or are at risk of experiencing intimate-partner violence have become more vulnerable as they are forced to stay at home with their abusive partners.
Free TV Calls On Government To Reform “1980s” Content Structure
Free TV Australia today called on the government to urgently reform the Australian content regulatory framework to provide commercial television broadcasters with flexibility to deliver the Australian content that audiences are demanding. Commenting on Free TV’s submission to the government’s options paper, ‘Supporting Australian stories on our screens‘, Free TV CEO, Bridget Fair said: “The […]
MyState Bank Unveils “Unbalanced World” TVCs Via The Royals
MyState Bank has showcased new banking technology with a brand campaign created at the height of the Covid-19 lockdown. Virtual casting sessions, talent from the same family and a strict enforcement of a two-metre distancing rule on set: a brand campaign for MyState Bank by The Royals tackled Covid-19 restrictions to film a series of […]
Beer Brand Brahma Latest To Feel The Wrath Of Offended Hindus
Upset Hindus have urged Belgium-based brewer Anheuser-Busch InBev to change the name of its popular ‘Brahma’ beer brewed in Brazil, calling it highly inappropriate to their religion. Rajan Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, pointed out that in Hinduism; Lord Brahma, along with Lord Vishnu and Lord Shiva; formed the great triad […]
Clems Sydney Brings Back D-D-Demazin
After years in hibernation, the iconic and nostalgic ‘D-D-Demazin’ mnemonic from the 80s and 90s is back. The new ad, developed by Clemenger BBDO Sydney, will evoke fond childhood memories of Demazin, a well-known brand that has been treating Australian families for more than fifty years. While the new spot, directed by Airbag’s Chris Hill, […]
Young Australians Will Abandon Facebook If It Doesn’t Do More To Combat Hate Speech
In this guest post, founders of The Daily Aus Sam Koslowski and Zara Seidler discuss why in order to stay in the game and keep its user, social media giant Facebook needs to do more to combat hate speech… For young Australians, Facebook is on the decline. Unless the platform better responds to its user’s […]
Model With Down’s Syndrome Breaks Instagram Records For Gucci
Here's a good news story B&T likes to run. Even if it's from a brand you wouldn't expect a good news story to come from.
Baskin-Robbins Australia Awarded For Stranger Things Campaign
A brave move has paid dividends for Baskin-Robbins Australia who recently announced they won the award for Best Digital Initiative at last week’s QSR Media Awards. Baskin-Robbins Australia’s Master Licensee, Palm Oasis Ventures took a risk in launching a digital winter campaign targeting a new millennial and Gen Z demographic when it partnered with Netflix to launch season 3 of the streaming giant’s most popular show, the sci-fi horror series, Stranger Things.
Haystac Wins Springfree Trampoline Account
The first agency B&T is so definitely visiting after lockdown is Haystac, having won the Springfree Trampoline account.
News Corp’s Damian Eales Promoted To Global New York-Based Role
Damian Eales scratching at the bottom of the T-shirt drawer for his old "I ❤ NY" number following news of a promotion.
TikTok Turns On Trump (Again)
TikTok has turned on Trump once again. As yet, no one brave enough to speculate it's the work of the Chinese government.
EU Questions Google’s Fitbit Acquisition
Google's acquistion of Fitbit has so angered the EU it got its pulse to 125 and burned 142 calories in the process.
Deliveroo Drivers To Be Trained To Spot Signs Of Child Abuse And Neglect
Although B&T applauds this top initiative, to be honest most Deliveroo drivers struggle finding the right house number.
Thursday TV Wrap: Seven Sweeps Up, Wins Night Across All Key Metrics
This headline suggests Seven has put a broom through the opposition. Which amost sounds like a trip to triage, really.
Convert Digital Awarded Adobe’s Magento Gold Status
Leading eCommerce website development agency, Convert Digital, has achieved the coveted Magento Gold Status from Adobe. This accomplishment has been reached following the agency’s continuing work with the Magento 2 platform - platform that is incredibly robust and offers unrivalled flexibility and scalability.
Indie Agency The Shannon Company Unveils Campaign To Promote Industry Super
Are you in an industry super fund? Well, watch your contributions at work in this, thankfully, slightly cheap looking ad.
Binge To Offer Free Subscriptions To Locked Down Melbournians
Here's a fantastic idea from Binge which will hopefully stop people in lockdown from killing their loved ones.
Peroni Launches Global Ad Campaign ‘Walk With Us’
Peroni Beer unveils "walk with us" campaign or it could even be "stagger with us" given one too many actual Peronis.
Meet The Women Leading Tech: Intuit Global Brand Strategist Stephanie Brown
Time to meet Intuit's global strategist Stephanie Brown who, you'll find, is no relation to Reservoir Dogs' Mr Brown.
PHD Partners With TikTok To Launch Campaign For PepsiCo
Look, it's a Pepsi ad straight after a Coke one. It's almost like a taste-test challenge without the actual tasting.
Influencers Raise $95k For Starlight Children’s Foundation In Do-Good Campaign Via Born Bred Talent
Influencer marketing agency Born Bred Talent has partnered with the Starlight Children’s Foundation to mobilise their talent roster and support the Stream Raiser campaign, contributing over $95k in donations thanks to virtual fundraising efforts. With a combined reach of 6.2 million across Instagram, TikTok and Twitch, 9 Australian influencers contributed 76% of the $124k raised […]
Coca-Cola Unveils First Ad Since The Pandemic In A Heart-Warming Campaign About Shared Meals With Loved Ones
If you're like B&T and have a distrust of adults who drink soft drink at dinner, this may exacerbate your prejudices.
Radio One Of The Hardest Hit With 56% Slump In Ad Spend
Radio industry takes savage hit to ad revenues. Daryl Braithwaite forced to wait for 'The Horses' royalty cheque.
