It is being presented as an enhancement for mobile friendly sites rather than a punishment for non friendly sites, but either way, a responsive website design is going to start ranking higher than non responsive websites from April 21st 2015.

Samui offers 'Responsive Web Design' services to make sure you get the best out of your website, on any device. Contact us today at contact@samui.co.uk or call Richard on +44 (0)1295 278216 to ensure you are ready for Mobile Friendly Day!

So what's the fuss really all about? Well, it's unusual for Google to announce, in advance, how their latest algorithm updates are going to affect search rankings, which is a clear suggestion that this could have major consequences for many. To start with this will only apply to mobile searches, so Google searches via tablets and desktops will, for now, remain as they were, but if you index in the top ten on a desktop but outside the top 30 on a mobile search you will see a decrease in traffic to your website, overnight.

Mobile Site or Responsive Design?

Mobile websites were the traditional route, still successfully used by many today. They are effectively second websites that recreate the necessary content of your website, specifically for mobile devices. A responsive website is one that has been designed to respond to different screen sizes, so the same page can look and feel drastically different from a mobile screen to a desktop screen but all from the same page being loaded.

From Google's point of view it doesn't matter which method is implemented as long as it meets it's mobile friendly test, however, at Samui we believe that Responsive Design offers greater advantages for potentially less cost, and so it makes sense to be responsive. The advantages include:

• Only having one location to update content
• Relying on standard SEO practices, rather than potentially incurring duplicate content penalties
• Only requiring one design for all types of mobile screens, regardless of screen resolution
• Having a website that works on tablets too

'But I only Have 2 Weeks...'

..Wrong! This update is here to stay and whilst it may be difficult to get a completely new responsive design implemented by April 21st, the update is page specific, rather than site wide, and you may find only a couple of tweaks are required on certain pages to get them ready. The mobile friendly test is also being carried out real time so a responsive page will be recognised almost instantly at any point from April 21st.

Let the Samui team run the Mobile Friendly test on your website for FREE, contact us today at contact@samui.co.uk or call Richard on +44 (0)1295 278216 to ensure you are ready for Mobile Friendly Day!