Chances are, it’ll probably still be there. But according to Google, if it doesn’t display properly on mobile devices – they might pull it from search results, giving preference to those sites that do, effectively making it invisible to searchers.
I’ve had lots of questions from my clients about this, and most with recent work are just fine. If you’re not sure, there’s a link to a free tool to find out if your site is mobile friendly a little further down in the article.
So why is being mobile friendly so important to Google? The fact is, mobile browsing is set to overtake desktop browsing this year. I won’t bore you with all the mobile statistics – you’ve likely heard this all before. Or maybe your favorite Yellow Directory representative has been bugging you all of last year trying to push a mobile website. (Which will likely be extinct soon). Suffice it to say that the popularity of smart phones and tablets has expanded to the point that most online searches, web browsing, and maybe even Netflix watching is done on the small screen.
Google is – and always has been – all about the user experience. It makes sense that if you’re searching on a mobile device, you want content in your search results that you can easily read or watch. Old designs are hard to read on small screens.
So, how do you know if your website displays properly? Google’s got a tool you can use to find out.
Another quick way to find out is to just resize your browser window on your desktop to the size of a phone display. If it reads and looks fine in the resized window, chances are it’s okay. But do the Google test anyway. There are lots of factors in mobile design to consider when thinking about usability.
So, what can you do if your website isn’t mobile-friendly? Depending on the architecture of your website it could be as easy as installing a software add-on, but for most – a website redesign is probably the cure.
Fortunately, you know a guy. 
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