By Dallas Dogger
April 21 could change things for many self-storage operators. Dubbed “Mobilegeddon” by insiders in the Web industry, it’s the day search engine giant Google will begin to treat websites that are not mobile-friendly different in search rankings from those that are optimized for tablets and smartphones.
Google will introduce a new algorithm that will determine the way mobile-friendly websites are displayed and ranked worldwide. Websites that are not mobile-friendly could suffer in search engine rankings.
This update will have a much bigger affect than the Panda or Penguin updates last year, which caused problems for some self-storage websites. It took months to repair these issues, and operators who were affected likely lost market share. We can’t afford to have business interrupted by an update again! So what can you do to make sure you’re ready for the April 21 update?
- Make sure you have a mobile-friendly or responsive version of your website. Your existing website can be “responsive,” which means the pages will scale and render to the size of the device the customer is using. You can also have a separately hosted mobile website that’s optimized for phones and tablets with different information. These sites can even offer a targeted message for mobile users that might include a mobile “call to action” responsive message.
- Check each page of your website to make sure it renders and is readable on a mobile device. Not all pages will be and not all webpages can be made to be read easily on a smaller device. These pages may need a redesign.
- Verify that Google crawlers can see your site on a mobile device.
- Contact your Web provider for advice on how to deal with this update.
- Pages must be responsive or Google must see you have a separate website for mobile searches to avoid penalty.
Google estimates 60 percent of all searches worldwide are conducted on mobile devices. It’s imperative self-storage facilities have responsive pages or a mobile site to ensure potential customers find them. Make no mistake, Google wants its customers to have a great search experience, and making sure your website is mobile-friendly is essential. To find out if your self-storage facility’s website meets the requirements, take the test.
Don’t delay as most Web developers have plenty of updating to do. Leaving it to the last minute could be costly to your business in terms of market share and revenue.
Dallas Dogger is the CEO for Centreforce Technology Group Pty. Ltd., which represents several software suppliers. His Web brand, Webstor, is the largest provider of self-storage websites in Australia. For more information, visit www.centreforceit.com.au.