Google to prioritise ‘mobile-friendly’ sites

Google has announced that it will prioritise mobile-friendly websites when people use the search engine on smartphones or tablet computers from this week. The move is part of Google’s changes to its mobile search algorithm, which the tech giant announced back in February to give websites time to redesign.

As a result of the changes, businesses with desktop-only websites may find themselves plummeting in Google's search rankings. This isn’t only an issue for smaller businesses, according to Google’s ‘Mobile-Friendly’ tool a number of big names including Versace has a site that Google has classified as not being mobile-friendly, for having text too small to read and links to close together.

This change is expected to have a “significant impact” on businesses that have not yet adopted a mobile-friendly strategy for their sites, and they could lose out on potential web traffic. However, sites will only see a drop in search visibility for consumers using their smartphone, and not desktops, but Google estimates half of all searches are conducted from mobile devices, through mobile browsers and its own search apps.

Image: Versace analysed on Google’s mobile-friendly tool