Google to promote 'Mobile-friendly' websites

Google has announced that it is rolling out an update to its search engine that will indicate whether a website is 'mobile-friendly'.

Handily, they provided a nice example so we can see how this is going to look as they roll it out over the next few months:

According to Google's Webmaster Central blog a website will be eligible for the mobile-friendly tag if Googlebot detects the following:

• 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

Google also offers various tips for ensuring your website is responsive.  Of course, that is something we at Lucid Crystal will do for you by default with our responsive websites.

You can also check to see if Google detects your website to be mobile-friendly using its Mobile-Friendly Test facility.

As you can see, we know what we're doing here at Lucid Crystal, we passed the test!

We think this is a good idea by Google but it adds to an already huge emphasis on having a mobile-friendly, responsive website design.

It also remains to be seen if Google will later begin to add mobile-friendliness to its ranking algorithm.

If you didn't think mobile optimisation was important for your website before (and you really should), then perhaps this will change your mind.