Google Mobile Algorithm update
-
Hi there,
On April the 21st Google seems to going to update their Mobile algorithm. I have a few questions about this one.
- Our current mobile website is very mobile friendly.
- We block all mobile pages with a noindex, so the desktop pages have been indexed on mobile devices.
- We use a redirect from desktop page to mobile page when someone hits a result on a mobile device.
My gut tells me this is not April 21st-proof so I'm thinking about an update to make this whole thing adaptive. By making the thing adaptive, our mobile pages will be indexed instead of the desktop pages. Two questions:
- Will Google treat the mobile page as a 100% different page than the desktop page? Or will it match those two because everything will tell Google those belong together. In other words: will the mobile page start with a zero authority and will pages lose good organic positions because of authority or not?
- Which ranking factor will be stronger after April 21st for mobile pages: page authority or mobile friendliness? In other words: is it worth ignoring the 21 April update because the authority of the desktop pages is more important than making every page super mobile friendly?
Hope to get some good advice!
Marcel
-
Hi Dirk,
That sounds great. Thanks for your help, I am going for action on this solution.
Marcel
-
Marcel
with this setup Google considers your mobile site as the mobile view of your desktop site so in terms of authority it should not have an impact on authority. Most sites we have in this setup have same rankings for mobile & desktop searches.
rgds
Dirk
-
Hi DC1611 & Matt-POP,
Thank you very much for your response. This one is clear to me, I have exactly 1 month to fix this. Mobile traffic plays a big part in our daily revenue so this is serious.
@Matt-POP: your advice is to go for responsive but I rather go for a canonical/ adaptive solution because a responsive website is not really an option (causes lots of other 'challenges'). Would you also advice to go for the canonical/adaptive way? The idea to exchange links in the source between mobile and desktop. Is will look like this:
The bold parts will be filled in dynamically.
So again (@DC1611): will the mobile page receive (some of) the page authority of the desktop version this way?Tnx again.
Marcel -
Your gut is right. If you are blocking your "very mobile friendly" pages to Googlebot-mobile you will likely end up with a big mess. If your desktop site is NOT responsive and is indexed for many terms on mobile, I would think you're going to lose those terms.
If you ignore the April 21 update and have a desktop-only site indexed you are definitely going to up for a traffic drop, especially from mobile.
We have clients with 1-3% mobile (industrial services, crane hire, that stuff) and those with 50%+ mobile (a few beauty salons, ecommerce stores, etc.) and I've been telling our clients internally - if you have 3-5% mobile traffic look, it's probably not the end of the world if it takes you until June 1st to make the switch. If you have 20-30% mobile traffic, get it fixed asap. And if you're over 30% mobile traffic you absolutely cannot afford not to have a responsive site up by April 21st. So it's a priority - but how much of one may depend on your business.
-
Blocking your mobile pages for indexing is not the best strategy if you have a dedicated mobile site. Better to use canonicals to point to the main domain - full explanation on "how to" here: https://developers.google.com/webmasters/mobile-sites/mobile-seo/configurations/separate-urls
With this setup - Google associates both Mobile & Desktop version - so in terms of page authority this should be equal. I would not ignore the 21st April date- Google is trying to make a point here - so for mobile searches mobile friendliness will be first priority.
rgds,
Dirk
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Training - How Google Crawls & Indexes Websites
Hi Does anyone know of any online training resources/webinars/training UK based that will cover the following for SEO: Why monitoring how search engines crawl and index content is important and how this can improve your SEO performance Using Google advanced operators to evaluate website indexation How to use log file data to gain insight into how search engines crawl and index content Techniques to control how search engines crawl and index content How search engines deal with JavaScript, common frameworks and SEO considerations I'm trying to develop my technical knowledge - I have always been more focused on content/KWD research/optimisation. Thank you
Algorithm Updates | | BeckyKey0 -
Https & Google Updated Guidelines
Hi We have https on aspects of the site which users directly interact with, such as login, basket page. But we don't have https across the whole site. In light of Google adding it to their guidelines - is this something we need to put into action? Also same question on the Accessibility point Ensure that your pages are useful for readers with visual impairments, for example, by testing usability with a screen-reader. Are we going to be penalised if these are not added to our site? Thank you
Algorithm Updates | | BeckyKey0 -
What are the top tips for winning on Google, Bing, and Yahoo?
We just launched a new site that is starting to be indexed well in Google, but Bing and Yahoo are lagging a bit. I understand that the search engines are different algorithms and will take different lengths of time to index, rank, etc. What I'm curious about is are there any other tips / advice / things to keep in mind when trying to rank on the different search engines? Thanks!!
Algorithm Updates | | Emily_A0 -
Strange Google SERP Layout: Anyone?
I haven't been able to repeat this, but I just saw a strange Google SERP layout. The screenshot is attached below. Has anyone else seen something like this? I kind of rubbed my eyes and wondered 'if it was kicking in'. ca2JqaP
Algorithm Updates | | Travis_Bailey0 -
Sub-domain or sub-directory for mobile version
sub-domain or sub-directory for mobile version advantages or dis-advangages?
Algorithm Updates | | Superflys0 -
Google places - are you still registering your companies?
Is Google plus taking over from Google Places? I have our company and website registered on Google places and Google Plus. Now we have a new website ( same company different product) Should I register a new listing on Google places? And what about Google Plus?
Algorithm Updates | | Realtor1010 -
Has there been a change in the Bing/Yahoo Algorithm?
I have noticed many of my sites took a beating this month on Bing and Yahoo, while Google stayed pretty flat.
Algorithm Updates | | netviper0 -
Google UK search volumes
If a user searches using Google.com but is based in the UK, is it classed as a Google UK search or a Google US search in terms of monthly search volumes? Most of my clients are targeting UK consumers and often rank well on Google UK but outside the top fifty for Google US. I have mentioned that that is fine unless a client happens to use google.com. Am I talking rubbish?
Algorithm Updates | | Switch_Digital0