Tech giant Google has launched a new update that aims to offer more mobile-friendly sites
According to USA Today, the 'Mobilegeddon' algorithm means that if people use Google to search via their smartphones, they may not be able to find sites, specifically if the said sites are not updated or mobile-friendly.
The site added that Danny Sullivan, the editor of the Search Engine Land website, came up with the name 'Mobilegeddon' in March, which is "a play on a recent Los Angeles mini-crisis called 'Carmegeddon', when freeways were closed for several weekends."
Furthermore, according to the Google Webmaster Central Blog, the company is globally rolling out the mobile-friendly update starting April 21.
"As we noted earlier this year, today's the day we begin globally rolling out our mobile-friendly update. We're boosting the ranking of mobile-friendly pages on mobile search results," it said.
The blog added that searchers who use smartphones can now easily browse a website.
"Now searchers can more easily find high-quality and relevant results where the test is readable without tapping or zooming, tap targets are spaced appropriately, and the page avoids unplayable content or horizontal scrolling."
However, the said update applies to all individual -- and not entire -- websites. Also, it will affect search results in all languages globally and search rankings in mobile devices.
Meanwhile, to check if the website is mobile-friendly, Google has a "Mobile-Friendly" test page in its developer section. Just type in the URL and see if it passes.
If the site is not mobile-friendly, Google said that the site will experience low traffic from Google Search, but if the site becomes mobile-friendly, the company will automatically reprocess the pages.
Moreover, a web page is eligible for the mobile-friendly label if they meet the criteria, such as "uses text that is readable without zooming, avoids software that is not common in mobile devices, sizes content to the screen, and place links far enough apart," according to Venture Beat.
