What we know

Mark Cook@thetafferboy

About Google’s 21st April Algorithm Update

…and what you should tell your boss

Mark Cook@thetafferboy

This presentation contains a curation of things“we know” about the upcoming GoogleMobile algorithm update on 21st April.

I’ve linked to all the sources, however Slidesharedoesn’t allow links in the first 3 slides, so I’vehad to try and think of a way to stall you.

Mark Cook@thetafferboy

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We know…On 26th February 2015 Google announced:

as a ranking signal”“We will be expanding our use of mobile-friendliness

You can read the full post here

Mark Cook@thetafferboy

We know…Since 2011, Google has released at least

Significant updates.87(thatweatleastthinkweknowabout)

This is the first time Google has given such explicit notice

Here’satimeline fromBronco

Mark Cook@thetafferboy

We know…The impact of the algorithm update will:

1. Impact search results performed on mobile devices

2. Affect search results on a worldwide level

3. Be seen in all languages

4. Have “significant impact” – quoting Google directly

Mark Cook@thetafferboy

We know…Google has been proactively trying to prepare us

Millions of messages have been sent to site owners

Mark Cook@thetafferboy

We know…It’s not the first “mobile friendly” update

June 2013 saw updates to ensure sites were configured properly

The writing has been on the wall for a while

July 2014 pushed sites to be viewable on modern devices

Nov 2014 and Google started marking pages as mobile friendly

Mark Cook@thetafferboy

We know…What Google considers to be “mobile friendly”

They specifically publisheda mobile web tool to helpwebmasters diagnosepotential mobile usabilityissues.

Mark Cook@thetafferboy

We know…To be considered “mobile friendly” a page must:

1. Avoids not commonly supported technologies such as Flash

2. Uses text that is readable without zooming

3. Sizes content to the screen so users don’t have to scroll horizontally or zoom

4. Places links far enough apart so that the correct one can be easily tapped

You can read more about them on the Webmaster Central Blog

Mark Cook@thetafferboy

We know…Google is developing a separate mobile index

Gary IllynesWebmaster Trends Analyst

Google is working on a “mobile only” version of their search index, which wouldsee desktop and mobile have completelyseparate search indexes.

Google’s announcement at SMX on The SEM Post

Mark Cook@thetafferboy

We know…It will be a bigger shake up than Penguin or Panda

Panda impacted ~14% of queries

Mark Cook@thetafferboy

We know…Mobile is cannibalising desktop traffic

Desktop search volume is falling

Mark Cook@thetafferboy

We know…As @willcritchlow put it so well:

“Don’t build things differently, build new things”

Take a look at his brilliant “Threat of Mobile” deck

Mark Cook@thetafferboy

We know…It’s time to tell your boss, it’s time for action.

1. Mobile internet usage is outstripping desktop

2. You’ll lose traffic without a mobile friendly UX

3. Consumer behaviour will continue to change

4. Google is adapting to protect its revenue stream

5. You need to adapt to protect yours

Good luck!

Mark Cook@thetafferboy