BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — In Professional Carwashing & Detailing’s August feature, “Groove into a successful business algorithm,” Editorial Director Rich DiPaolo discusses Google’s latest algorithm updates which focus on mobile devices, particularly smartphones, and why it is important for carwash owners and operators to stay up to date on these changes.
Today, more mobile devices are on Earth than people, according to Cisco Systems Inc., and a Google and Mobile Marketing Association survey reported 53 percent of American consumers use their smartphones to access search engines at least once per day. Additionally, a BIA/Kelsey report found that mobile search will generate 27.8 billion more queries than desktop search by 2016.
With the strong push toward mobile, the latest Google algorithm changes weren’t much of a surprise to many business owners who stay on top of SEO. The new updates will consider each page of a website and elevate the pages that meet the new criteria in search results, while demoting pages that do not.
“A poor performing mobile site can absolutely impact a business’ search potential. Some people have coined the term ‘mobilegeddon’ to describe what happens to websites that are kicked down the rank ladder at Google because of poor performance,” says Tom Mirabella, president of Wingman Planning, in the article. “Google looks for sites that are user-friendly, have lots of pictures, big text, working hyperlinks and a decent amount of traffic. Because of this algorithm change, the websites that fail in these areas will see their rank dropped. It’s like the Hollywood of algorithms — one day you’re number three and the next you’re 58.”
In the article sidebar, “Building a website and SEO strategy,” Mirabella offers tips for carwash owners and operators looking to build or improve their online presence:
- Align your website with your marketing strategy and target audience.
- Keep customers’ needs in mind.
- Be mindful of your back end/software.
- Consider responsive Web design
- Automatically detects the size of the user’s screen and adapts the content to fit the device
- Provides faster loading time
- One website equals one SEO campaign to manage
- Responsive sites perform well on search.
- Utilize Google Analytics.
- Consider hiring small business marketing firms to write SEO-friendly content mentioning your business.
- Blog regularly.
- If you create social media accounts, it is critical to keep them current (at least once per week).
- Consider a Web page asking for positive reviews with links to your social media accounts.
Read the entire August feature on Google’s algorithm updates here.
