On Tuesday, November 18th, Google revealed a new “Mobile-friendly” tag that they are going to be adding to mobile optimized websites. This is Google’s attempt to solve the problem of going to websites that aren’t yet mobile optimized. Google, in their recent blog post on the matter, says “This can be a frustrating experience for our mobile searchers. Starting today, to make it easier for people to find the information they’re looking for, we’re adding a ‘mobile-friendly’ label to our mobile search results.”

Over the next month, users will start to see these additions to their search results while searching on mobile devices. Google has also stated what they will be using as their criteria to receive the label:

• Avoids software that is not common on mobile devices, like Flash
• Uses text that is readable without zooming
• Sizes content to the screen so users don’t have to scroll horizontally or zoom
• Places links far enough apart so that the correct one can be easily tapped

If you want to make sure your page meets the criteria above you can check your website with their Mobile-Friendly Test tool, you can read the documentation on their Webmasters Mobile Guide, see the Mobile Usability Report in the Google Webmasters tool, and you can also take a look at Google’s How-To-Guide for Third-Party Software like WordPress and Joomla.

Google says it’s also experimenting with pushing mobile-optimized sites higher up search listing for those using smartphones and tablets. We expect Google to start experimenting with this sooner than later then release an update in early 2015 to their search results algorithm. This wouldn’t be uncommon for them to do, in fact, in 2013 they released Google Hummingbird sometime in August, and didn’t reveal their use of it until later that year.

At Commit Marketing, we specialize in interactive user experience and user interface development. So not only can we ensure your website works properly on mobile devices, but also ensure a flawless user experience. For more information on our mobile web solutions, take a look at our Responsive Web Design solutions in our services, as well as a mobile web app we made for a client. Both of these projects have met the criteria provided by Google above and pass their tests.

Reach out to us and send us a note to say hi, tell us about your business, or even tell us your biggest marketing challenge. You can schedule a phone call with us to go over your needs or concerns and find out how we can help regardless of budget or goals.