{"id":1515,"date":"2015-04-20T17:31:03","date_gmt":"2015-04-20T17:31:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/qfuse.com\/blog\/?p=1515"},"modified":"2015-04-28T12:50:51","modified_gmt":"2015-04-28T12:50:51","slug":"avoid-penalties-from-googles-april-21-mobile-ranking-updates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/qfuse.com\/blog\/avoid-penalties-from-googles-april-21-mobile-ranking-updates\/","title":{"rendered":"Avoid Penalties from Google's April 21 Mobile Ranking Updates"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"smartphone\"<\/a><\/p>\n

In this post, we’re going to cover how to ensure you don’t get left behind in the dust with Google’s April 21st, 2015 “Mobilegeddon” update<\/a>. \u00a0Google will “[expand its]\u00a0use of mobile-friendliness as a ranking signal<\/a>” and if you don’t have a mobile website (or an improperly configured on) your search engine optimization (SEO) rankings will suffer. \u00a0Here it is straight from Google:<\/p>\n

If the desktop and mobile version of the page are treated as separate entities, both desktop and mobile URLs can be shown in desktop search results, and their ranking may be lower than if Google understood their relationship. –\u00a0https:\/\/developers.google.com\/webmasters\/mobile-sites\/mobile-seo\/configurations\/separate-urls<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Pay attention to this\u00a0Google update\u00a0if you fall into either of these\u00a0two groups.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Website owners that currently don’t have a mobile-friendly website<\/strong>\u00a0who want to avoid to the typically lengthy, expensive, and complex undertaking of creating a responsive website and can instead build a stand-alone, feature-rich, and mobile-compliant website in minutes with the Qfuse Mobile Website Builder<\/a>. Alternatively, responsive web design services<\/a> are also available to develop a single site that will scale across all devices – from desktop down to tablet and handheld smartphones.<\/li>\n
  2. Anyone currently using a stand-alone mobile website<\/strong> that has not yet “linked” their mobile and desktop sites together in the eyes of Google.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    If you’re unsure whether your website is mobile-compliant, you can run a fast and free Mobile-Friendly test by Google<\/a>\u00a0to see where you stand.<\/p>\n

    What is a “stand-alone” mobile website?<\/h2>\n

    A stand-alone mobile website is typically a non-responsive website is distinct from it’s desktop\/tablet counterpart and often times has a separate URL<\/strong> (as in the graphic below, courtesy of Google).<\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

    If you’re wondering how responsive websites differ from stand-alone sites, responsive websites adapt<\/em> themselves to mobile devices based on end-user’s device screen resolution (viewport size)<\/strong>. \u00a0Stand-alone sites are distinct and separate<\/strong> from their desktop counter parts. \u00a0The key benefits of stand-alone sites include:<\/p>\n