Does Google care if your website is responsive or not?

Responsive design is now accepted as an essential component of any successful modern website. Unless your site runs flawlessly on all commonly-used internet-enabled devices, such as smartphones, tablets, laptops and desktops, then you will be fighting an uphill battle to gain new customers, keep your existing clients and appease the search engines: In particular Google…

The global web design community is pretty much at the mercy of whatever Google decides to factor in to its search engine algorithm.  It is usually a case of Google saying ‘Jump’ and the IT industry responding: ‘How high?’ – With the knock-on effect being a more homogenised, standards-driven web where sites that don’t fit in line with Google’s model end up fading into obscurity.

In an unusual twist, the criteria that Google is now measuring is less about text-based content, metadata and link structures, which were previously the sole realm of SEO experts and online marketing firms – and more about how sites are actually designed and coded, meaning that design and development now plays a bigger role in the success of a website than ever before: Welcome to the world of Responsive Design: Google-edition.

What can Google do to my website rankings if my site is not responsive?

The news that Google now penalises sites with non-responsive layouts might come as a bit of a shock to some website owners: Particularly if they have invested time and money in achieving great SEO results, only to find their rankings start to slip.  Whilst Content might still be King, Google’s search engine algorithm now requires a lot more than great content if it is going to consider a site for a rankings boost.

Sites which are entirely unresponsive fare worst: If you load up your website on a smartphone or tablet and struggle to navigate through the menus, read the content or see the images – if the site needs lots of pinching and swiping to zoom in, scroll up and down and zoom out – and if the site takes ages to load on less powerful hardware or mobile data connections, all of these factors and more will be considered by Google’s algorithm, with the simple penalty being a diminished ranking.

Sites with mobile versions typically fare a  lot better, receiving a higher usability and ‘mobile-friendly’ score – But the fact that multiple versions of the same site are typically required results in duplicate content being generated and a more complex set of rules for browsers to follow – all of which are not as desirable as having a more streamlined, responsive site.

The best way to steer clear of penalties and keep everything running smoothly is to design, build, test and fine-tune a website to be fully responsive and lightweight, with a great user experience, quality content and logical structure at its core: No mean feat, but something that is essential to gain or retain those all-important search engine rankings.

• About the Author
• Latest Posts

About Graham Lyons

Graham is the SEO and Social Media Marketing Manager at Cozy Digital and the editor of the Cozy Digital Blog as well as contributing content for most of our social outlets like Facebook, Twitter and G+. Graham has been working in, and writing for the SEO / SMM industry since 2001 and is still as dedicated and passionate today as he was when he opened his first Website Design, Ecommerce and SEO company in 2004. You can connect with Graham and Cozy Digital via the social media links below:

• Which mobile-friendly web design strategy is right for you? - August 28, 2015
• Errors to avoid in your social media marketing campaign - August 26, 2015
• Three things you must get right to run a successful e-com store - August 20, 2015
• Focus on the smallest details for a more mobile-friendly site - August 18, 2015
• Three reasons why physical retailers need an online presence - August 14, 2015
• Could your Scottish start-up benefit from a new digital grant? - August 13, 2015
• Does Google care if your website is responsive or not? - August 11, 2015
• Three powerful tips to boost your ecommerce conversions - June 15, 2015
• How Googles algorithm changes influence web design - June 7, 2015
• Stay on top of your Social Media Marketing with these 3 tips - June 2, 2015

You may also be interested in:

1. Why Your Website Needs to Be Responsive As of 2014, it is estimated that 1 in 8 website page views comes from some kind of mobile device....
2. Does your website really need to be ‘responsive’? With all the recent chatter about 'responsive web design' that has been hitting the net in recent years, it's time...
3. How will Google’s mobile-friendly algorithm hit your site? Today, responsive websites have become the norm: And it is safe to say that responsive design is now a must-have...
4. How Googles algorithm changes influence web design Google’s latest big algorithm update is shaping how designers approach each new project in a much more pronounced way than...
5. 3 Things to Consider When Hiring a Web Design Company You've decided your business needs a website or that it needs a new one. This is a big step for...