From today, pages that are not mobile friendly are being demoted in Google’s search algorithm.
As less usable pages disappear from the top results on mobile searches it’s good news for people with thoroughly optimised sites as they will effectively gain rank.
It’s important to distinguish that Google will not be demoting results on desktop searches, so how much this affects you depends on what percentage of your users are on mobile. Nor will they demote websites as a whole as this is judged on a page by page basis.
This is all part of Google’s long march to a more usable and friendly web. Many years ago they realised the Darwinist power of their search algorithm. Google Search is the environment in which all websites must adapt or die. In the distant past Google have inadvertently promoted crappy websites by accidentally promoting techniques like keyword stuffing or comment spamming for backlinks.
Thankfully they appear to be using their powers for good in the last few years and are nudging along the web community towards better standards. It wouldn’t be surprising to see further such initiatives with performance and accessibility in future. These are all signals already looked at by Google – just this time round they are making a song and a dance about it!
You really should pop over to Google’s own mobile friendly test page to see if your site has any problems! I hope it’s all tickety-boo!