On The Brink: Mobile Usability + Organic Search Ranking Factors

This is the third installment of our newest Delucchi Plus blog feature, On The Brink, in which our Senior Search Marketing Specialist and resident Batman expert Jonathan Brinksman breaks down the latest and greatest trends in digital marketing. Whether you’re a seasoned expert or total newbie, Jonathan will be offering expert, accessible insight into the ever-changing digital world.

In case you haven’t noticed, we’re knee-deep into November. Pretty soon, it’s going to be 2015. 2015 represents a paragon of futurism, in fact: : It’s the year Marty McFly travels to in Back to the Future: Part II.

So let’s talk about the future, shall we? We’ve got working hoverboards, flying cars, and every person on the planet has a mobile device*. And mobile, as we all know, is the future. Right?

Wrong. Mobile already happened. Mobile is already ubiquitous. If you’re not reading this blog post on an iPhone 6 Plus, then you’re not one of the cool kids. Not to mention that if you don’t have a mobile-friendly website, then your business is already behind.

Recently, Google’s been quietly making a lot of tweaks to how they are determining mobile search rankings, as well as how they’re delivering search results to users on mobile devices. Fortunately, not all of these changes have gone unnoticed.

All of this has ramped up in the past month or so, though. Let’s go through the evidence:

1. Google changed the way that mobile text ads are being displayed, forcing marketers to adapt their best practices for the creation of mobile ads.
2. Google unveiled a new Mobile-Friendly Test tool.
3. Additionally, Google Webmaster Tools recently added the “Mobile Usability Report,” which breaks down for webmasters areas of their mobile site that are not very mobile friendly.
4. Google is now displaying “Mobile Friendly” icons directly in the search results for both paid and organic results.

So. With all of that being said, why should you care? Simply put, it’s because you care about your Organic Traffic, which is typically the majority traffic channel for most websites. With all of this smoke, there has to be fire, and that fire would be Google adding mobile usability and optimization as a ranking factor for Organic Search listings. Ipso facto, if you’re not already optimized for mobile users, you’re about to get hurt.

Anecdotally, I’ve also noticed that this year, mobile traffic has surpassed both desktop and tablet device traffic for the majority of my clients (though not both desktop and tablet traffic together).

Perhaps the most damning piece of evidence, though, is that this week Google has outright stated that they’re testing mobile optimization as a mobile ranking factor. Gulp.

The future is now, kids. Your customers and target audiences are on their devices 24/7 – no longer is search just people typing away at desktops (and it hasn’t been that way for over a decade now). The writing is on the wall. Do yourself and your business a favor and optimize for mobile. All the cool kids are doing it.

*Not factual.