Mobilegeddon: Part II
By: Julia Archer and Rebecca Teaff
It doesn’t seem like long ago when the internet world went into a frenzy to get their website optimized for mobile after Google announced they would begin penalizing websites that are not up to mobile standards (aka: Mobilegeddon: Part I). Now, Google will yet again update their mobile-friendly search algorithm starting in January 2017.
This new algorithm will target websites that have what Google is labeling as “intrusive interstitials.” These are anything that can make a viewer’s experience less user-friendly, such as pop-up boxes. You may have noticed that we removed our email newsletter sign-up pop-up from our home page. This was directly as a result of Google’s new algorithm. We are currently adapting our home page layout to bring attention to our sign-up in a different manner. Google has stated that this change will take place to ensure that Google users are able to easily access and view any content that they click on from Google search.
Of course, pop-ups and add-ons can be a key feature in driving traffic to newsletters, e-books and much more; so this news can be a bit negative for marketers and small businesses.
According to Google’s Webmaster Central Blog, something qualifies as an “intrusive interstitial” and may impact your mobile ranking if:
- A pop-up covers main content (when a user enters the page or while on the page)
- A user must dismiss something before entering the main page
- Content appears to be standalone when the actual content sits below the interstitial
It’s important to keep in mind that this algorithm change will only impact mobile views, not desktop or other search methods. However, since 48% of users start their research on a mobile device by using a search engine (according to a Google study quoted by Smart Insights), this change is definitely something all business owners need to take into consideration.
We can help make sure your site is mobile-ready and prepared for this algorithm change. Contact us today!