Google recently announced it is going to separate mobile search from desktop search completely with mobile search getting the highest priority. This announcement means that mobile search will become the most up-to-date search engine over desktop search. With mobile devices fast overtaking the search numbers, Google is working to keep their most active customers happy by making this move. They have been focusing on mobile as it has increased usage, and this is the next step in their developments.
New Mobile Only Search
This move is expected rapidly "in month" according to the announcement made at Pubcom on October 12, 2016. Search Engine Land reported that Google has been experimenting with a separate mobile search engine for at least a year. It is unclear exactly how the mobile search engine will differ from the current one or the desktop version other than being the primary search engine. How different they will be and what will be included or excluded exactly has not been announced yet. However, this announcement just makes having a mobile-friendly website even more urgent if you do not already have one. At some point, competitive keywords in the mobile search engine will only show mobile-friendly results to mobile device users.
Current Mobile Search
Currently, Google already places a priority on mobile-friendly sites in their search results to mobile devices. However, some industries have been slower to adopt mobile-friendly or responsive website technology. Those sites can still be found on mobile search, but as more companies update their websites, it is obvious that Google is moving away from these desktop-only websites and toward prioritizing mobile-friendly sites even more. Eventually, they may not show any sites in mobile search results that are not mobile friendly.
Look for More Announcements
As this new development gets closer to its start date, look for more specific announcements from Google. This change will allow them to update and alter their mobile search rankings and algorithm completely separately from their original search engine.
Preparing for Mobile Search
Although you may already have a mobile-friendly website, if you currently do not, this would be a good time to put it into your business budget for next year. There are several options for businesses to introduce a mobile-friendly site all at once or in stages. You can create a small mobile site that links to your current website, create mobile-friendly features on your site or have an entire mobile responsive website. Any of these choices will give your company a spot in the new mobile search engine; however you should make sure that your Google business information is current and up-to-date.
Ask for Help
Your website provider can offer additional help if you need a "to-do" list to make sure you have the best possible optimization for mobile search. While some aspects of mobile search are the same as standard desktop search, there are details that you can tweak specifically for mobile. This trend will continue going forward as younger computer users enter the workplace used to using various types of mobile devices for flexibility and easy access.
