Just a couple of months ago, Google rolled out an update to its algorithm that was intended to improve the rankings of mobile friendly sites when searched on mobile devices. Sounds great, right?
As smartphones and tablets have become the preferred way for more and more users to interact with the internet, it only made sense for the Great Gazoogle to respond to this demand. Unfortunately, the update had some unintended and unanticipated side effects that caught a pretty good chunk of the Internet Intelligentsia off guard, sending shock waves throughout the Web design and development, and search communities.
Namely, that sites unprepared for the update took hits to their rankings, and saw some functionality issues.
Mobile-geddon Aftermath
Not everyone was caught unawares. When we first heard inklings of how radical some aspects of the update would be, we sprang into action with a cunning plan.
Most of our clients these days are on WordPress due to its streamlined built-in features, gobs of plugins, and active developer community. In preparation for Google’s changes, we were able to migrate older site designs into a responsive theme with our WordPress Foundation Sites Packages. This comprehensive WordPress setup includes a suite of plugins and customizations specifically optimized to handle the very issues the Google update was expected to create, ie it’s built to be responsive right out of the box so it looks as great on your phone or tablet as it does on your desktop. In other words, Foundation sites will be fully optimized for mobile, just as Google intended to encourage and reward.
Our WordPress Foundation Package In Action
Just before the update rolled out, we had installed a Foundation Package for a defense lawyer. The Foundation installation allowed his clients to interact with a fully functional Website whether they were sitting at their computer, using a tablet, or viewing it on their smartphones – including the all-important contact form.
When the results of the update started to show up across the internet – mobile rankings improved for sites optimized for mobile viewing. For this particular site, we saw improved rankings along with a drastic (more than doubling) jump in conversions – driven largely by traffic from mobile phones and tablets.
Is your site still in need of a mobile revamp?
Get more details about the Foundation Package — call us at 303-995-1472 to find out how we can help you get started.