Announcement: even if you are unable to read this entire issue of the SEOversite newsletter, make sure you read this paragraph. Google has recently announced that as of April 21st, any website that is not mobile-friendly will be penalized and downgraded in search results. At this stage, Google has been cryptic as to whether the penalty will be massive or minor, but we do see the writing on the wall for the future: those websites that do not stay current, get mobile, and follow what is best in the eyes of Google will lose leads. In this issue, we outline a few key ideas and tips to help you maximize what the web gurus call “Responsive Design,” but we simplify and refer to as creating and maintaining “mobile-friendly” sites that will work on all phones, tablets, laptops, and desktop computers…
Mobile-Friendly Tips and Ideas:
- Know Your Lingo – in the web marketing world the word “responsive” just means “mobile-friendly.” And “mobile-friendly” simply means that your web page easily conforms to the screen size on which it is displayed. A responsive site should look great on any cell phone, just like on any small or large screen computer.
- Test It – ask your current web team or contact SEOversite at (305) 455-0720 or guardian@SEOversite.com to ask if your site is truly responsive. Further, open your site on a number of devices and ask yourself if it is easy to read and if you need to use your fingers to zoom in or out to see the entire page. If so, you may need to revamp the site.
- Platform – ensure your site is built on a current platform – like WordPress using HTML5 and CSS3 – if your site is older or coded in another format or placed on a proprietary platform, it likely is not responsive and will need some tweaking. Again, our team is happy to point you in the right direction at no cost – remember, we help you find great vendors…we do not want to build your site so you will always get honest feedback from our team.
- Trust Google – like it or not, around 90% of worldwide search volume – billions of searches a day – are made through Google. The 2nd biggest search engine is not Bing, not Yahoo! – it is YouTube. Guess who owns YouTube? That’s right – Google. So if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em. When you hear about updates to Google’s algorithms or trends in the industry, you might as well be a first mover vs. being last to act. Unlike fad industries – recently we have all internally decided NOT to buy the Apple Watch☺ – when Google says they are moving in a direction, the sooner you acquiesce to their wishes the sooner you see results and the farther ahead of the competition you are by the time they make the move mandatory.
- Find and Listen to the “Good Guys” – have you ever been told you need professional help? We mean related to the business, of course☺. Well, we are saying you do. No matter how good you think you are, there are smart people spending 60 hours a week thinking about web sites, SEO, reputation management, responsive design and more. There is no way you can keep up. Unfortunately, most industry players are not that knowledgeable or take advantage of laypeople. Using our team at SEOversite.com is one option as we don’t try to convince you to buy our services – rather we help you find the best of the best at a lower price and ensure they deliver, but even without our help, there are good teams out there if you truly do your research. Time is money so be sure that if you make hundreds of thousands a year you are factoring in how much time it takes to do the work on your own and the opportunity cost of not hiring professional help.
For more information on improving your online presence, inquiry volume, and web marketing plan, our friendly and fun team is at your service. Call us today at 305 455 0720 to schedule a call with a Web Guru or email us at guardian@SEOvesite.com. Don’t forget to download our complimentary podcast through our sister company – YellowTelescope – by searching the iTunes or Google Play store for “yellowtelescope” (no spaces).