How to make sure Google does not penalise your website on 21st April

Here is Google’s warning with my emphasis added in bold.

To help you, here is the free resource from Google to let you find out instantly whether your site passes the Google Mobile-Friendly Test:

Run your site URL through the Google Tool – it takes less than a minute to get your results.

What to do if your site fails the test:

  • Don’t panic. You’ll find out what the specific issues are from the test.
  • If you use a CMS like WordPress, look at installing a responsive, mobile-friendly theme.
  • Get in touch with your web designers and let them know your site has failed this test – point them to the Google blog, and get them working NOW on making the site capable of passing the test.
  • Make sure you (or they) have access to your site in Google WebMaster Tools to find out the specifics and remedy things.

What to do if your site passes the test:

  • Congratulations! But don’t rest on your laurels…
  • Take a good hard look at your site on a variety of mobile devices and make sure it’s actually usable, functional and legible – every site can be improved, and some devices may have quirks that can spoil the user experience. Improve things as much as you can.
  • Use a tool like http://www.browserstack.com/responsive to look at how well your site performs on common mobile devices, grab the resulting screenshots, and adjust things accordingly.
  • Check your Google Analytics or other web tools to see what devices are actually accessing your site, and make sure you are catering for your visitors. Look out for higher bounce rates on smaller screens as a sign that you need to improve the mobile offering.
  • Find out what percentage of your visitors are using mobile devices, and think about what that means for your web presence today, and tomorrow. If you’re making assumptions that are not backed up by the cold hard facts, you need to make some changes, and fast.

Good luck with your site!

Please share if you found this useful.  Follow me on Twitter @petherick_ to get my updates on LinkedIn, and online visibility, legibility and credibility.

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