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Google April 21st Update – The News You Need to Know

You will be aware that on the 21st of April, 2015, Google will be releasing their latest update. Due to the fact that Google have been so secretive in the lead up to their previous updates, it came as a surprise when Google announced a warning to website owners this time around. Their warning: become mobile optimised or suffer the consequences!

Okay, maybe it wasn’t worded quite the same way, but the sentiment is still the same! But of course, we cannot know for sure exactly what the update will in entail. Google is always tight lipped about this kind of thing so most of what you’ll read is speculative at best. We are though scouring the internet on a daily basis for a snippet of news that might give us more insight into the inside affairs within Google.

With our noses to the ground we’ve been able to sniff out some predictions we think will come to the forefront on April 21st:

1)     Only mobile Search Engine Results Page (SERPs) will be affected. Google has specifically stated that people need not worry about their desktop rankings.

2)     Google will be displaying apps in search results for all mobile devices and will be able to crawl these in more detail than ever before. It means the amount of information Google will be able to extract from these apps will equal greater relevant results for users.

3)     Google’s main goal here is to provide a better user experience for mobile searchers and drive engagement with Google Play (to help them sell content through this store).

Estimates for the level of effect this upcoming update will have ranges from pretty much no effect right through to even bigger than Penguin 1.0. We expect it to be towards the latter end of the spectrum, but as we mentioned before, there’s no way to know for sure.

In terms of the preferable way to get a site mobile, we recommend having a site that is responsive, so that it works well for all devices and a business only needs a single version of the site. With that said having a separate mobile site like an mdot one (such as m.website.com.au) is still a viable option and it doesn’t sound like Google is going to take a strong preference either way.

We’re on the edge of our seats as we wait to see what the update will bring. We’ll keep you updated on any news and we’ll also provide you with a breakdown of the update once it’s released. We even have a Webinar coming up which you definitely do not want to miss out on! Check in with us on Facebook and our blog, or visit our website for the latest industry news. Watch this space!