Privacy Policies on a website are no longer just for the big guys. Check out why it's important for you too.
Google has changes happening all the time to the algorithms. Usually it’s nothing much to bat an eye at. It happens so often and people make such a fuss, get upset, then settle down and carry on with life.
Usually I just let the changes float right past me and don’t give them much of a thought as they usually have a much smaller impact than everyone believes.
However, this time it's different. It is so important to know if your site will stay in search engine rankings with these new changes.
Want to cut to the chase? Click here for the information in a Nut Shell
First up – Google is becoming even more focused on security. It is important that now your site incorporates an SSL Certificate. It used to be important only for those who process payments on their website, but now Google will actually put in the words “Not Secure” before your website URL in the address bar, which never looks good and may keep visitors away.
The other thing to think about is that your competitors may get ranked higher up than you if they have an SSL Certificate for their website.
The other thing that is going to make a huge difference in the indexing of your website is what they call ‘Mobile-First’.
What this means is that Google will continue to be a single index of websites and apps, however their results will primarily use the mobile version of a site’s content to rank pages – and if it’s not mobile friendly and easy to use in mobile mode – you will not rank. Or you will rank poorly.
Now many of us have changed to what we call a mobile-responsive website, so we are half way there. This is really awesome. A mobile-responsive site is one that automatically adapts to whatever screen size people are viewing the website from.
But there are a few items that should be checked to make sure your site complies with everything Google will check for.
Make Sure Your Site Is Ready for the Google Changes Here
First will be HOW mobile friendly your site is. It should be tested and if any issues come up they should be corrected to give your site the best possible chance for ranking well.
Next is speed. They are getting pretty critical here. Where once a 9 second load time for a website was great – now they want to push it down to 3. This can take some creative maneuvering. Testing for this is the second step – and all items fixed or optimized.
Next is the Data Structure. This name alone sounds scary. Really what it means is the information on our website that tells search engines what the page is about, who it’s authored by, and what type of content is on the page. Google uses this information when giving results to people who are searching. You want to make sure your mobile version of your site is getting all of this information to Google.
So in a nut shell, it’s very important to make sure your site is ready. Google is already starting to roll out the new algorithms for the Mobile-First initiative.
The primary focus is on Security (SSL Certificate), Mobile Readiness, Speed, and Data. We have found that just because your site works on a mobile device, does not mean it will be automatically ranked well in the new Google paradigm, the other factors matter as well.
If you would like to know if your site is ready – we can take the guessing out of the game and complete tests to see how well your site stacks up and if it’s ready for Googlegeddon.
If you would like to schedule your in-depth analysis of your site, please click the button below and we will set up to analyze your site and let you know what needs to be adjusted or changed to fit with Googles changes.
Privacy Policies on a website are no longer just for the big guys. Check out why it's important for you too.
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