Heard of Mobilegeddon? Or mobilepocalpyse, may be mobocalyse? That’s a nickname for the date April 21, 2015. On this very day, the search engine giant Google added a Mobile-friendly ranking code in its webmaster algorithm. To put it simply, if your site is now mobile-friendly and loads in just a few seconds, you can expect a higher rank in Google pages.

And we cannot blame Google for coming up with such an update. Statistics have shown that nearly 91 percent of American mobile users keep their smartphones within reach all day. Google has also reported that almost 30 percent of their total searches are done on phones now. So, if someone is searching for a play to stay and your lodging site doesn’t open on his mobile, can you expect any traffic?

The trick is you do not have to change any SEO rules while framing the content of your site. They remain fairly the same. What you have to do is change a few structure and formats of your site to get that extra boost in ranking. Consider the following tips:

1. Increase your site’s loading speed.

Now, 40 percent of your visitors will close your page if you take more than 3 seconds to load. The number will reach 60 percent if its 5 seconds. That is how impatient we mobile users are. So, design your page accordingly.
Put off the auto-play mode of your videos and shrink picture size. Shift to Google’s AMP. This will load your page 85% faster with its tricks up its sleeves.

2. Shrink your content.

And display only the relevant. No mobile user likes to see their scroll bar go on moving. Filter your content accordingly. Use more of bullets and 2-3 lines paragraphs. Shrink your tabs into a menu box and let the users click to get more information. Look at Facebook, how did they optimize their mobile site?

3. Focus on voice search.

It’s in trend now. Voice Search has increased 34 times since 2011. A whopping 82 percent surf online while shopping to find a product or store. Most of these are through voice search.

So, if someone is searching for a restaurant, his/her search input will be “best Chinese food near me.” So, if your content is framed around “Chinese fine dining”, the page will never appear. Hence, frame your content accordingly.

4. Design a separate mobile site.

If you just cannot remove any content or picture from your site, get a separate mobile-centric site. These generally come as “m.chinesefood.com” where you have the liberty to post minimal content.

Place a “go to desktop version” link somewhere below. So, if anyone is impressed with your mobile format, he/she will wait for the time span for the desktop version to load. This is a smart way to increase and hold traffic.
Also, in the case of mobile sites, you must provide more space for fingers to move around easily. Again, use of buttons and tabs for a further link is advisable as no one on Earth has pointy and precision fingers. Few simple tricks to rank higher!

Warm up before the Game

Google has a variety of tools available to check the mobile-friendliness of your site. It will analyze your site thoroughly and jot down points of where all you need to improve. Also, place information on Google and Apple maps with exact location and service details. Most people visit your website through these.

Stay ahead in the competition. Google has acknowledged that the online word is steadily shifting from desktops to smartphones. If you want a place on that coveted first page, start making changes and follow the trend. Happy website making!