D day for websites - What kind of internet changes should we expect after April 21?

Since Google announced that as of April, 21, 2015, mobile-friendly feature at websites will influence search ranking, discussions on how this new thing will affect visits and web site search, their business and whether it will be D day when many of them will disappear or at the end if it will be only “much ado about nothing”.

-Owners of websites will most likely appreciate the data that it is not only "mobile responsive" method which provides security when it comes to the future of website in mobile search. Google also allows dynamic servicing of content as well as separate URL. The advantage of responsive website is the fact that both for desktop and mobile device , a user gets the same URL and the same HTML code. As of April 21, websites which were not marked as "mobile-friendly" will have decreased visibility in mobile search– an expert explains.

Due to serious discussion caused by announcement of internet browsers, a collocutor of our portal thinks it is necessary to break some myths.

-Representatives of Google have mentioned for a few times that algorithm will not affect desktop search. Regardless of the fact whether you have or no "mobile-friendly" feature, your positions for desktop search will not change. Google does not favor responsive design. Dynamic servicing, responsive design and servicing of separate URL have the same strength of values. Apart from that, it is not sufficient that only a few pages are "mobile-friendly". Algorhytm does not categorize websites but every separate website page. Upgrade which is coming April 21 is not limited only to English, rich countries or competitive markets but entire internet.

What does it mean when a website is "mobile friendly"?

The basic criteria showing that the website has Google status of "mobile friendly" can be presented in three categories.

-The first one refers to clear content vs, monitor size where it is referred to adaptation of proportion of font in line with diagonal and monitor resolution. Them user experience on mobile device. It mainly reflets in easiness of touch interaction. It is necessary to provide that links have sufficient size so that they can easily be pressed with a finger, to have satisfactory space, that all content is visible to users (without Flash or Javascript). Finally, criteria is also speed of website loading. Majority of users wants fast website which does not spend too much resources so that Google insists on speed optimization. Pay attention to data quantity which a page communicates (in kilobytes), to rendering speed on a webpage as well as on server settings (answer time until the first byte) – a collocutor of eKapija advises.

There is no set mid between whether a page is adapted to mobile devices or no since algorithm accepts only two conditions, it is or it is not "mobile-friendly", Pantelic adds.

-It is important to mention that owners of websites should not block access to Google when browser is going through CSS and JavaScript files. These files help algorithm to define whether a website is adapted to mobile devices so the advice is not to block CSS and JS files in your robots.txt file –Pantelic says.

(Photo: Ivana Vuksa)

Who will be hit by a change most?

When asked which categories of websites will be mainly hit with the change, Milos Petrovic, the founder of the MWEB agency, answers everybody who slowly adapt to internet changes”.

This is global algorithm upgrade so there are no bigger or smaller preferences when it comes to some industries or website categories, Pantelic adds.

"Mobile friendly" websites will remove others

If adaptation to mobile devices becomes an important ranking factor, the fact that all websites which are not "mobile responsive" will lose their position in Google search can be characterized as another myth, Pantelic mentions, since Google will not completely erase from search websites which are not , "mobile-friendly", but it is likely that it will surprises them with websites which are.

-"Mobile-friendly" will be a strong signal but not the most dominant one. Metrics link (authority and domain trust) and content metrics (uniqueness, value of content) have great strength. Apart from that, in many verticals and especially at local internet, Google does not have sufficient quality and relevant results so that there will almost be no change. Remember, Google wants to, upon user’s request, list the most quality and most relevant results and content and thus it will not compromise this mission. If content of a website which is not "mobile-friendly" better result for a user, Google will not decrease ranking position of that website.

Visits decline can be calculated through data analysis from the web analytics tool. In local framework, average is that 25% of traffic goes on mobile or tablet search so losses can range from 5% to 20% most of organic search. Total traffic loss should not exceed 10%.

Test your website

The firs step in website testing on how Google sees it can be checked HERE. Apart from that, information on what it is necessary to fix are available in Webmaster Tools under Search Traffic - Mobile Usability.

The next step is, a collocutor advises, that owners of websites take a look at their analytics and see what percentage of visits they get from mobile data and which pages rank highly in mobile search. After they see potential losses or potential gain, they can opt for whether they will implement changes on website.

-Since we believe that you will opt for providing users better experience, it is advisable to start with development of responsive website. Follow suggestions provided by Google tools and try to fix major mistakes – Pantelic says.

What will happen April 22?

It seems the change in Google search algorithm will bring major changes and that it will be D day for a number of websites.

-Change will be huge, Not so much in percentage of visits as in the way we perceive web. Today, internet is "mobile first" platform. Representatives of Google announced this upgrade will be bigger than any of previous Panda or Penguin algorithm which often make huge turbulences in search results.

-I think the situation will gradually change during this year – Petrovic thinks.

Algorithm will definitely be upgraded on regular basis so April 21 is not an absolute deadline for works completion, Pantelic also agrees.

Irina Milosevic