Google Mobile Friendly Test Results

The Google Mobile Friendly Test

What Do The Mobile Friendly Test Results Mean?

Failing The Mobile Friendly Test Will Kill Your Web Traffic

If your website fails the Google Mobile Friendly test, is simply means your site does not look good on mobile devices, like smartphones. Google is now elevating sites that pass the mobile friendly test to higher position in the search engine results pages (SERPs). This means a site that is not mobile friendly will drop down in the listings. Additionally, Google AdWords will evaluate your site when you start a pay per click campaign. If your landing pages (target pages) are not mobile friendly, your web pages will be marked down in the page quality score. As a result, your AdWords will not be very effective.

Has your site failed the Google Mobile Friendly test? Contact us to schedule an appointment to discuss your website issues. We specialize in upgrading old, broken, and non Google compliant websites.

The issue of mobile friendliness and the user experience for websites on mobile devices is not only serious, it can be difficult to fix. With the increase in smartphone models, it becomes even more important to ensure your website passes the Google Mobile Friendly test. You can find out more about Mobile First here.

Your website must function properly on the enormous variety of smartphones that now exist. OpenSignal identified a very large number of 24K+ unique Android models accessing its site in 2015, but your site does not need to target all of those. Your site should look good on the top selling devices, however, because these are the mobile phones your potential customers will use. Concentrate on user experience when designing and developing your web pages for a number of devices to reduce bugs and web page issues across your entire web site. Any problems that do occur can greatly reduce web page conversion rates.

This is an image of the original Google Mobile Friendly test from 2015. It was very basic, however, it would let you know if your site passed or failed the test. It did provide information about why the website failed the test. It would inform you if the text was too small to read, if the viewport was not set, and if the content was wider than the screen.

The Google Mobile Friendly test is constantly evolving. This format has now been updated, with Google adding more information for users. The image from 2015 is no longer valid. Look at the image below to view the current Google Mobile Friendly test. Notice that it has a very simple interface, but does have links to other helpful resources.

The latest edition of the Google Mobile Friendly test has more features and gives more tips on why your website failed the test and what you can do to improve your website. Website theme and template developers are now creating only mobile friendly websites. If you are in the market to purchase a website WordPress theme, make certain it is “responsive” before you purchase the theme. Retrofitting a WordPress theme to make it mobile friendly, also known as mobile responsive, is a total waste of time. If your site is not responsive, return to the vendor site where you purchased your theme to see if it has been updated to responsive. Updating an existing theme with a new version is not a difficult process and this is the safest technique for upgrading.

UPDATE FOR 2019!

Google Mobile Page Speed Test Update 2019

Google reconstructed the site speed testing tool that first launched in 2016. “Test My Site” (which really can be used to test any site without the user being the verified owner) now features more details on a site’s mobile site speed.

The Google testing tool will provide information about:

• The potential impact of site speed on revenue and a detailed list of recommended fixes to increase speed on up to 5 pages on the site.
• The speed of both the entire site and of individual pages and whether the site or page speed is faster or slower compared to the prior month.
• A Fast, Average or Slow score for site speed or page speed and a benchmark report against competitor sites.
• A complete report that you can download.

 

 

Here’s an image that demonstrates a mobile friendly test failure with the new test features. The test itself has become more sophisticated with updated code resulting in more sites failing than with the previous test. The Google Mobile Friendly test is the first step to determine whether your website requires help from a structural point of view. Failing the Google Mobile Friendly test is a critical failure for your website.

According to the latest research, online buyers are 51% more likely to buy from businesses that have a fully optimized mobile-friendly website. It is very clear – to increase their conversions, website owners should update their websites for mobile optimization and Google mobile compliance to ensure good positioning in the search engine rankings and for the best user experience.

At Vancouver WA SEO, we fix websites that fail the Google Mobile Friendly test. Website themes and templates are an important consideration when designing your website. We can help you upgrade to a website that will not only pass the Google Mobile Friendly test, but will also run properly on all devices and web search engine browsers. Call us at 503-828-6268 or Email us to schedule a time to discuss your website situation.

Update February 2018

Google Is Moving More Sites To Mobile First Indexing

As Google increases its “Mobile First” initiative, it is adding more sites into the new algorithm. This means your site will be evaluated for its mobile responsiveness first, then it will be evaluated for it’s response on desktop computers.

Google spokesperson, Gary Illyes, made this announcement at the PubCon webmaster meeting. The impact of the information is this: If you your website has a mobile-friendly version, Google will first index the mobile friendly version, then it will index the desktop version. If your website has only one version and if that version is mobile friendly, there will be no negative effects.

What Happens If My Website Is Not Mobile Friendly?

If your website does not meet the Google mobile friendly test requirements, other sites that do pass the test will rank higher than your site. Your site is not penalized; the site that pass the test will be rewarded. This is how Google has always operated. What looks like a penalty is simply other sites being elevated.

There is more information on this topic at All About Google Mobile Friendly Index. According to this information, from November, 2016, here are threee of the important questions and answers about the Google Mobile Friendly initiative.

What If I Don’t Have A Separate Mobile Website?

Google doesn’t care if you do or don’t have a specific mobile site. Google will go ahead and crawl whatever type of site you have available.

Is There A Problem If My Mobile Site Contains Less Content Than My Desktop Version?

Yes, this may be an issue. Google will look at your mobile site, if two pages exist on both desktop and mobile, then Google will just look at the mobile version. Since Google is now giving precedence to mobile web pages, this could result in a negative impression.

Google recommends using “responsive” design for your web site, so each page has identical content for both mobile and desktop. A responsive website design will be mobile friendly and render properly on desktop as well.

Will Expandable Content Be OK On Mobile?

In the past, Google would not consider content within tabs, expandable boxes, and accordions on desktop web pages as highly as fully visible content. That has changed so both mobile and desktop ranking factors are consistent. According to Gary Illyes, Google spokesperson, content is “given full weight” when it helps user experience, no matter how it is displayed. Google is now giving full credence to content formerly considered somewhat “hidden.”

Source: Web Design and Development

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