Google has big changes coming up in the way they prioritize their search results. April 21, 2015, Google changes significantly. The company just announced that a mobile friendly version will be an important parameter to be prioritized in the search results in the world's most popular search engine. From now on it will become key to support mobile versions for mobiles and smartphones - also for the church.
"The change will impact mobile searches across all languages and it will impact the way we prioritize our search results. At the same time users will find it easier to get relevant search results of a high quality that are optimized for their smartphone," Google writes in their blog. It basically means that homepages that are not optimized for smartphones will be down prioritized in their search.
Most of our churches use analytics tools to understand where their users are from and what they search for. Most of their traffic comes from Google and there is no doubt that it is a key source of traffic. The visitors often find their events and information by searching; few visits are "direct traffic".
Visits from mobile devices are increasing
Our data shows that more than half of all visitors are using mobile devices to go online. Our last analysis showed more than 60% traffic across our churches. Google are also using this argument in their press release. They explain that their new algorithm changes are a respond to the new user user behavior that will only increase in the coming years.
Choose a software platform that helps you go mobile
Today you have to facilitate mobile use both when it comes to supporting your visitors by having a mobile friendly homepage. But you also need to support the church staff and volunteers in working mobile. We have worked intensively on becoming 100% mobile in ChurchDesk. Our mobile version of our website was introduced last year and improved the user experience on both homepage, signup forms and newsletters. Our app for backoffice workflows are soon available for both iPhone and Android and we look forward to hear your feedback!
