Does Google penalize non-mobile sites?

Softpress published this article on their blog recently: http://blog.softpress.com/2014/03/does-google-penalize-non-mobile-sites/

The most interesting part to me is that Google is less likely to show a responsive site in search results to mobile devices than it is for a dedicated mobile site. To me, this seems strange - why would Google prefer mobile-specific sites to responsive sites? Thankfully, Softpress included a source for this information, straight from a Googler.

With that said, if there’s one thing that I have learned about Google is that you should never underestimate the intelligence of their algorithm. If you run Page Speed Insight on any website now, you will see that Google now includes a “User Experience” section in the “Mobile” tab. This section evaluates the site’s UX using this checklist:

  • Avoid plugins.
  • Configure the viewport.
  • Size content to viewport.
  • Size tap-target appropriately.
  • Use legible font sizes.

All of these criteria should be met by a correctly-built responsive website.

Google has already stated that website load time is a largish part of their ranking algorithm, which is why they created the Page Speed tool. It would seem only appropriate that the UX checklist would also influence rankings.

My hunch is that if Google is not already treating responsive websites as equals with their mobile-specific cousins in searches conducted via mobile devices, they will soon.


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Hi Caleb,

John Mueller (and our post) actually says that it doesn’t matter how you construct your mobile site. When people search on mobile devices, your site will be better off as long as you have a mobile site.

What they don’t say is how much better off it will be. Since content is king, I would have thought that making sure you content is relevant is still going to be the best thing you can do.

Joe

On 17 Mar 2014, at 17:45, “Caleb Grove” email@hidden wrote:

Softpress published this article on their blog recently: http://blog.softpress.com/2014/03/does-google-penalize-non-mobile-sites/

The most interesting part to me is that Google is less likely to show a responsive site in search results to mobile devices than it is for a dedicated mobile site. To me, this seems strange - why would Google prefer mobile-specific sites to responsive sites? Thankfully, Softpress included a source for this information, straight from a Googler.

With that said, if there’s one thing that I have learned about Google is that you should never underestimate the intelligence of their algorithm. If you run Page Speed Insight on any website now, you will see that Google now includes a “User Experience” section in the “Mobile” tab. This section evaluates the site’s UX using this checklist:

  • Avoid plugins.
  • Configure the viewport.
  • Size content to viewport.
  • Size tap-target appropriately.
  • Use legible font sizes.

All of these criteria should be met by a correctly-built responsive website.

Google has already stated that website load time is a largish part of their ranking algorithm, which is why they created the Page Speed tool. It would seem only appropriate that the UX checklist would also influence rankings.

My hunch is that if Google is not already treating responsive websites as equals with their mobile-specific cousins in searches conducted via mobile devices, they will soon.


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Joe,

Thanks for the response! After rereading your article, I think I understand your point a lot better now. Speed-reading technical articles without much sleep is not usually recommended. :slight_smile:

I guess my real question is “What are the qualifiers for a ‘mobile site’ in Google’s eyes?”. Does a responsive site count as a mobile site for searches performed from a mobile device and a desktop site for searches made from a desktop-sized device? Or does Google treat a responsive site like a desktop-only site?

When I first read your article, I thought that you were saying that Google treats a responsive site like a desktop-only site (non-flexible 960px wide) - therefor penalizing it on searches made from a mobile device. However, now that I’ve reread it more carefully, I think you are saying that Google will treat a responsive site like a mobile-optimized site for searches performed from a mobile device and a desktop-optimized site for searches made from a desktop-sized device. Is this right?


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