Google is changing its search rankings to favour sites that work properly whether the browser is searching on desktop or on a mobile device. 

Google is giving website owners the opportunity to address any problems – including faulty redirects to mobile sites and incompatible videos –  before it makes its algorithm changes. It has recommended that website owners test their site on as many handsets as possible to ensure that it works for the largest mobile audience.

Google hasn’t specifically said in its latest announcement that companies need to create mobile websites for all of their content, emphasising that a redirect to a desktop site is better than the user seeing an error.

A blog by Google said: “Smartphone users are a significant and fast growing segment of internet users, and at Google we want them to experience the full richness of the web. Avoiding these mistakes helps your smartphone users engage with your site fully and helps searchers find what theyre looking for faster.”

We have reached out to Google to find out when the deadline is and what this will mean for sites that dont make the relevant changes.