Breaking: Google Announces New Mobile-Friendly Labels, Potential New Ranking Factor

All the tools and information you need to take advantage of Google's new "mobile-friendly" labels in search result, and the new, potential ranking factor. How will this affect your site? What can you do to optimize for this update? Be among the first to get the answers.
November 19, 2014

Yesterday Google announced the roll out of new “Mobile-friendly” labels in search results on mobile devices to help users find websites that are easy to use on their device (and avoid sites that aren’t).

Google announces mobile-friendly layout

Image source: Google

This is yet another announcement by Google to provide a better user experience, and to encourage (perhaps even strong arm) webmasters to follow suit. The search giant also indicated that they are experimenting with mobile-friendliness as a search ranking criteria as well, giving website owners even more reason to invest in an effective mobile UI. Will your site earn the “Mobile-friendly” badge? Here are a few places to start:

The Mobile-Friendly Test is very easy to use – all you need is a URL: Passing Google's mobile usability test If your site is not mobile friendly you will see some basic error information. Not passing the Google mobile usability test The mobile usability testing tool in Webmaster Tools is located in Search Traffic > Mobile Usability. Test mobile usability in Google Webmaster Tools Error detail are more specific than the Mobile-Friendly Test, with the number of errors detected on the domain shown. Clicking on each error provides a list of specific URLs with that particular issue. mobile usability errors in Google Webmaster Tools If SEO is important to your brand (and if you want to keep modern, multi-device users happy), we strongly encourage using the above tools to identify any mobile usability issues your site may have. Deploying fixes for your mobile usability problems will depend on a variety of factors. If you have any specific questions or concerns about your website, feel free to reach out to Profound Strategy.

Nate Dame
CEO and Founder
Nate is the founder and CEO of Profound Strategy, a results-oriented SEO consultancy trusted by forward-thinking companies, including a few of the world's largest B2B and technology brands. Profound Strategy builds holistic SEO strategies, supports internal teams, and offers full-service execution to create an organic search presence that generates significant revenue.

What's Next?

Profound Strategy is on a mission to help growth-minded marketers turn SEO back into a source of predictable, reliable, scalable business results.

Start winning in organic search and turn SEO into your most efficient marketing channel. Subscribe to updates and join the 6,000+ marketing executives and founders that are changing the way they do SEO:

And dig deeper with some of our best content, such as The CMO’s Guide to Modern SEO, Technical SEO: A Decision Maker’s Guide, and A Modern Framework for SEO Work that Matters.