Google will, yet again, be increasing their focus on mobile, almost a year after releasing the fearsome sounding (but mostly uneventful) Mobilegeddon update. The announcement was made via their webmaster blog which stated this latest update would “boost” the effects of their mobile-friendly algorithm that rolled out in April 2015.
This latest update is scheduled for release May 2016 and will only affect non-mobile-friendly websites. So, if you’re already mobile-friendly then there’s no need to worry. However, if you are concerned, you can easily check if your site is mobile-friendly using the Google Mobile-Friendly Tool.
Google’s statement highlights that the update will be aimed primarily at non-mobile-friendly sites which indicates we’re likely to see more significant penalties for websites that don’t offer good mobile experiences.
The announcement gives businesses even more reasons to consider responsive web design, if their websites are not already mobile-friendly. User experience on mobile is not simply a usability concern but a marketing and SEO consideration as well.