Google’s new SERP penalties target sites not optimized for mobile. Check out our tips on how you can avoid damage to your Google search ranking.
Google has released hundreds of updates to their search results ranking algorithm since the first publicized Panda change in 2011. Most recently, Google has announced that they will be pushing an update to their algorithm that will penalize sites that are not mobile optimized. While Google hasn’t given an exact date as to when the update will go live, they are saying that applicable changes should be made to websites “in the near future” to avoid a penalty. Therefore, website owners should take action as soon as possible to ensure that their search ranking is not hurt by this update.
At Chitika, we’re always looking for ways for our publishers to earn more revenue, and mobile optimization is definitely something ALL publishers need to do. To help out with this, we did some research and pulled the best tips for how you can avoid penalty, as well as a link to where you can read Google’s guide on mobile optimization.
Here is an overview of Google’s recommendations via their official guide for developers building mobile optimized sites:
- Google recommends webmasters follow the industry best practice of using responsive Web design, namely serving the same HTML for all devices and using only CSS media queries to decide the rendering on each device
- If responsive design is not the best option to serve your users, Google supports serving your content using different HTML. The different HTML can be on the same URL or on different URLs, and Googlebot can handle both setups appropriately if you follow the company’s recommendations
- Webmasters should watch out for smartphone-only errors
- Sites hosting videos using Adobe Flash will be penalized as it will not work on an iPhone or Android phones with versions 4.1 or higher
To learn more about how you can turn your site into one that is mobile-friendly, visit Google’s informational page here.
Also, keep in mind that optimizing for mobile is just one part of the necessary things to optimize about your websites! There are always things you as a publisher can do to boost your revenue. To learn how you can optimize your site to increase your ad revenue potential, download our free eBook here. You can also optimize your site to be advertiser-friendly (meaning you will be served higher paying ads), so be sure to download our free eBook, “10 Tips for Top-Tier Ads” here!