Assessing Mobile Usability With Google Webmaster Tools

Back in 2013, Google officially announced 1 that it would begin to penalize websites that provide a faulty user experience on mobile devices. Specific examples included redirecting inner URLs to a home page when viewed in a mobile version of a website, as well as showing 404 errors to people attempting to access pages on mobile. Toward the end of 2014, a Google spokesperson hinted that the mobile user experience would become a ranking factor 2 . In January 2015, a number of website owners received messages warning about mobile usability issues on their websites, linking to a section of Webmaster Tools where they could review the problems. 3 Mobile usability warning sent to owners of websites registered with Webmaster Tools. ( View large version 4 ) In this article, we’ll review how to flag mobile issues in Webmaster Tools, explain the most common issues and learn how to assess mobile usability problems on your website based on these flags. Because mobile usability has become a greater priority in Google’s ranking algorithm, ensuring an optimal mobile experience on every website has become more important than ever.