Update to the Mobile Ranking Factors

Why is Mobile Ranking so important? Why are desktop and laptop rankings so different? And what is the difference between mobile device rankings? The following paragraphs will offer some answers to these questions. But first, let's take a look at why we measure rankings in the first place. And why some web publishers prefer to use a more specialized approach than others.

In the early days of Internet marketing, the focus was primarily on desktop search results. This meant that websites with a lower page rank got more traffic and were able to enjoy a higher ranking on the search results page. The same would happen with mobile rankings. It was only in 2021 when many observers started to notice a trend in which mobile devices outranked desktop devices. Today, there are more mobile devices capable of doing web searches than desktops, giving the appearance that there may be a permanent shift in how the ranking system is computed.

Mobile ranking, then, has to do with the way a visitor moves from a desktop search to a mobile search. It is based on the keywords used in each of those searches. But there are other considerations involved as well. For instance, an enterprising web publisher could build a website that combines the functionality of both a desktop site and a mobile site, and market it as a hybrid. In that case, when someone visits the hybrid site, the visitor is taken to a desktop or laptop site for the keywords used, but the visitor is sent to the mobile site for the relevant keywords.

There are some good reasons for including mobile SEO in rankings. First, it is increasingly common for mobile searches to incorporate some form of advertising. As such, marketers are finding it more necessary to target their keyword campaigns specifically to the interests of mobile searchers. Second, when a searcher types in a relevant keyword from a desktop search, the desktop results page often includes links to external web pages that promote those interests even more.

Fortunately, the technology has been around for some time. Marketers have been working toward building a better mobile search results rankings for years. However, in order to truly succeed, they must be aware of what forms of behavior drive up search rankings. This is not necessarily a science, but there are trends that can be observed. For example, some marketers focus on adding a particular URL category to a mobile search results listing.

That is important. If you can construct a website that is optimized for those terms, you stand a far greater chance of reaching the top position on the first page of a mobile-friendly SERP. Additionally, the landing page should feature relevant content that is optimized around those terms. The combination of those two elements will maximize your chances of ranking higher.

So what exactly was added to the top positions of the first few mobile-friendly search results? Well, according to many experts in the field, it was the integration of social media into search engine optimization. In April, we witnessed some remarkable changes in the way that social media was incorporated into the ranking signal equation. On one hand, users expressed increased interest in using their social profiles as a way to optimize their SERPs. On the other hand, marketers took advantage of their newfound power to promote their own sites to the top of the social rankings. The end result?

According to Matt Cutts, VP of product management at Google, "In April, we saw a marked increase in the ratio of direct results to promoted results. Now that we've launched search results that are more mobile-friendly, this ratio will continue to grow." That means that marketers are seeing an increase in the return on investment (ROI) associated with their efforts to promote their websites. With Google's latest update, Google has delivered on its promise to make its search engine results more mobile-friendly.