SEO is not sexy. My blog yesterday got a so-so reception. (Not Your Grandfather’s SEO). It’s a tired topic.
I’m tired, too, of the juxtaposition of the word Armageddon with just about any other word. But this is for real: Google’s latest biggest change will be significant, and it will effect the way your website gets traffic. And you thought getting prospects to your voice-over page was difficult BEFORE!
They’re calling it “Mobilegeddon”, because Google’s algorithm update concerns mobile searches. The change hits April 21st, and it may blindside you if your site is not properly “mobilized” now.
Back in February, Google released this warning: “Starting April 21, we will be expanding our use of mobile-friendliness as a ranking signal. This change will affect mobile searches in all languages worldwide and will have a significant impact in our search results.”
This should come as no surprise. Mobile is gaining ground vs. desktop/laptop at an amazing pace. 30% of traffic comes from mobile, now. [ref. Search Marketing Expo]. What this means is users now have a choice tp seek sites that are “mobile-friendly”. What is “mobile friendly”?
- Website software that’s compatible with mobile (so no Flash, for example)
- Large, readable text without zooming
- Content automatically resizes to fit the screen (so you don’t have to scroll horizontally)
- Large links with plenty of space between each so they are easily tapped
For this info, I quote from a copyblogger article by Demian Farnworth called: Will Your Website Survive the Upcoming Google Mobile Penalty?
As a voice-actor, you are doing well if your site is already responsive. That means, no matter what device, no matter what size screen, no matter what OS, and no matter what browser you’re using, the content of your site will reveal much the same.
Wanna be sure? Google provides an online tool that tests whether your site is mobile friendly.
The Mobile Friendly Test. (Whew! Mine is!).
The lesson for voice-actors here is this. Even if you disregard the April 21st deadline, your online website content should constantly be focusing on mobile from here on out. Get the responsive site done by a developer. Worth it. Think simple and uncomplicated. Keep the content fresh and relevant. Encourage interaction and conversation.
More about Mobilegeddon on these sites:
How to Adapt Your Content Strategy in Time for Mobilegeddon
Google Mobilegeddon is upon us
The Advanced SEO’s Guide to MobileGedddon
[added 7-22-18: an even better responsive page checker: https://www.websiteplanet.com/webtools/responsive-checker/]
CourVO
Wow, Dave! This is great info! I didn’t realize the upcoming April 21st date. I can’t wait to check my site with the tester. Thank you! 🙂
Yay! I passed! I owes you a beer Dave.
Actually, you have to combine “geddon” with apocalypse to create the “mobilegeddon apocalypse”–which we need to “survive!” It doesn’t make the problem go away but “mobile friendly” will apply to MOBILE searches, not all searches. The statistic that much of the search traffic is now mobile probably applies more to restaurants, hardware stores, theaters, etc. more than voice over websites. But the trend is there so “responsive web design” should be in your future. Many WordPress templates are responsive. And Google has definitely become the tail that wags the dog on the interweb.