Google is recognizing the driver of mobile by making changes to the algorithm used to rank search engines. The majority of the changes for 2015 have already been made. If you have not already made the effort to ensure that your mortgage lending website is mobile friendly, you need to do so now or face the potential of dropping off the radar on Google mobile.
More users than ever are accessing all kinds of information from their mobile devices. In fact, some people use their cell phones more than a desktop or laptop to conduct research about news, products, or services. Some websites are behind the times with this, meaning that a user who opens a non-optimized site will have trouble reading it. Or the user might opt to exit the website altogether. Either way, not having a mobile-friendly site can be confusing and complicated.
Now, how friendly your site is on mobile will translate directly to how well that same site ranks in the Google search engine. Even if you are new to the game of search engine optimization, you likely have a basic idea about just how important it is to rank well in this search engine. Since many users are looking for things on mobile devices, Google’s move is an effort to help push those slower-adapting sites to upgrade into a mobile-friendly experience.
Impact on Mortgage Lending Industry
There are many different industries being affected by this change as the implementation is across the board, but it does have some special implications for mortgage lenders. According to recent research about users accessing mortgage information on mobile, it turns out that just under one-third of users looking at niche mortgage sites in their local area were doing so from a mobile phone. This is good news for those lenders who have done their homework to ensure their site is mobile friendly. For those who have not, however, you run the risk of getting the boot from a good ranking location on Google.
What to Do If You’re Not Sure Where You Stand
The good news is that Google will classify your site in one of two categories: mobile friendly or not mobile friendly. There’s no gray area in between, so there is little room for confusion about where you’re fact. Since there are so many factors that Google considers in determining whether your site is mobile-friendly, it’s not as easy as making one or two switches and getting the green light.
Some of the issues the search engine looks at are: speed to load, photo size, link placement, and font size. Make sure that your site has been generally optimized for Google and you’re in a good position. Run mobile testing to see what it looks like on different browsers and mobile phone types so you get an overall picture. Making these changes now will help to stop the negative outcomes associated with a dropped search engine ranking on Google mobile.
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