Google is planning another mobile search update and it’s scheduled to go into effect in May.  So we thought we’d take a look at how many of the fastest growing, privately-owned companies in America pass the Googles mobile test. To our surprise almost a quarter of the Inc. 500 (22%) don’t pass the test. And you get further down the list of the Inc. 5000 that number increases.

Why does this matter?

Google never changes their algorithm on a whim.  They use hard data.  And they know that more searches are now performed on a mobile device than a desktop. Google’s aim is to deliver a superior search experience to their users.  So they’re focused on mobile.  And since Google has about 70% of the search traffic in the world, and they have some of the smartest  people working on their data and their algorithms, I’d venture to suggest that you should pay attention to what they’re doing.

Here are just a few of the reasons why:

• The demographic of BtoB researchers is changing – most of them are now Millennials and they’re on a mobile device, or two or three, all the time.
• 57% of internet users say they won’t recommend a brand with a bad mobile site
• 40% say they turned to a competitor’s site after a bad mobile experience.

What should a mobile site have:

• A lightning-fast load time.  You have to know the best way to design and program the site for mobile, depending on the content you have on your website.
• Above-the-fold content must load in less than one second.
• High resolution images.  Most smartphone screens require images 2X better that a desktop screen.
• Ease of use.  People are on the go when they are on a mobile device so they want easy access and easy-to-use features.

Mobile SEO is all about the user experience, so in many ways it’s more technical than traditional SEO.  If your website is not yet 100% mobile-ready, or you feel that your mobile experience is not what it should (or could) be, give us a call.

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