Just an update this week.  Google has really been trying to drive home the point that you need to provide a good user experience on mobile devices these days.  Though many small business owners balk at doing site redesigns to make for a better experience, it is becoming more and more important to do this, not only to make Google happy, but to make your visitors happy, which is why Google has begun to penalize for a bad experience.

If you aren’t sure if you have a bad experience, the easiest way to tell is to simply go to your site on a phone or tablet.  Be honest with yourself. Is this a good experience.  If you want more numerical proof, look at your analytics numbers.  If you have  a bad experience, you will see it in bounce rate and time on site comparisons across devices.  This is how Google can tell if you are providing a bad experience. If a searcher finds you in search and goes to your site and then bounces right back on the mobile device, Google is not going to want to keep sending them there.  They started by punishing you just in mobile search but now they are pushing people down in all areas.

You may think if you don’t count on SEO for a big percentage of your traffic it doesn’t matter, but pay per click is also affected, and in general, even if a quarter of your visitors come from mobile devices and leave because of a bad experience, you can figure out for yourself how much potential business loss that can be.

I recently had an on again off again PPC client approach me after seeing a large drop in conversions this year.  They don’t have a mobile friendly site.  We went in and showed them that huge percentages of their paid traffic is simply leaving because they have a horrible  mobile experience.  Ask your developer about moving to a mobile responsive site.  This may be an investment, but it is an important one that you need to look at right away if your online presence means anything to you.  As an SEO, I can bring people to your site, but I can’t make them buy.  Now I can even get my hard work punished just because somebody hasn’t moved to mobile friendly.  If you need help or have questions on your site, please give us a call.