This month, Google revealed it was going to start penalising websites that were not mobile-friendly but relegating them on mobile search results. Now, the web giant has revealed further details on how companies can avoid vanishing from their rankings with a handy online testing tool.
The new details emerged in two separate Google+ Hangouts broadcast on Tuesday and Wednesday this week.
In Tuesday’s Hangout, titled ‘Q&A session for mobile-friendly ranking change’, we learned:
• There is no spectrum of ‘mobile friendliness’. Pages are either mobile-friendly or not, as determined by the presence or absence of a mobile-friendly label in mobile search results.
• The algorithm starts rolling out on 21 April, but may take up to “a week or so” to roll out completely.
• People can check their site’s compatability with Google’s Mobile Friendly Test tool
In the second Hangout, ‘English Google News & Webmaster Central office hours hangout’, Google News community manager Stacie Chan revealed that the algorithm will not affect Google News results at launch.
She did say they were “exploring” whether or not to implement it, but couldn’t give any timings.
View the hangout here:
