Member Article

Changes to Google Algorithm Affecting All Websites

On April 21st Google will be rolling out a fundamental algorithm update that will influence the way your website is ranked within search engines. As a boutique digital agency based in Teesside we’ve reached out to local businesses to give you the lowdown on what this means, how it will affect your website, and how should you adapt to it.

Google makes hundreds of modifications to its search algorithms every year – whereas the majority are minor and nothing to be concerned with, some have substantial impact and require careful consideration and adaptation.

The more significant algorithm updates can affect how your website ranks, leading in some cases to a complete de-indexing of your site.

In response to the growing influx of mobile and tablet users, the update will place greater importance on ‘mobile-friendliness’ as a ranking signal. This means that when Google is determining the ranking order of results displayed to a user browsing from a mobile device, it will favour sites that are mobile optimised. The update on April 21st has been cited by Google as having a “significant impact” and should therefore be dealt with accordingly.

If your site is responsive, then there’s no need to worry. However if it’s not, then we recommend that you swiftly factor the optimisation of your site into your marketing plan, else your current rankings will be directly affected.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Shaun Brereton .