In a world that’s gone mobile, having a website that isn’t mobile-friendly can hurt your business.
If a site loads slowly or people can’t find what they need immediately, they are likely to leave and continue their search elsewhere.
That may be why Google created a tool called Test My Site with Google, which helps small businesses determine the strength of their websites across platforms, both desktop and mobile. It just launched today, according to an announcement on Google’s Small Business blog.
Test My Site With Google Tool
“Today, we’re introducing an easy way to measure your site’s performance across devices — from mobile to desktop — and give you a list of specific fixes that can help your business connect more quickly with people online,” says the blog post.
To use the Test My Site With Google tool, just type in your website address. (No technological knowledge is needed, says Google.) You will receive a score and can download a report that contains custom guidance on ways to improve your site’s performance. The report also lets you know where to go for help should you need it — all at no cost to you.
In the post, Google suggests the reason to test your site is that “your customers live online.”
Tool Launched In Response To Mobile Boom
While that may be a broad generalization depending on your customer base, given that Google is the new Yellow Pages (and has been for years), when people need information about local businesses or products, they go to Google to find it. More and more, those same individuals are searching while on the go, which means they’re using a mobile device.
“On average, people check their phones more than 150 times a day, and more searches occur on mobile phones than computers,” says the post.
If a potential customer comes across a site that isn’t easy to use or that loads slowly, she is “five times more likely to leave” than if she accesses a site that performs well, the post adds.
The testing tool scores on three aspects of site performance: mobile-friendliness, mobile speed and desktop speed.
It bases mobile-friendliness on the quality of the customer experience when browsing a site using a phone. To be considered mobile-friendly, a site has to have tappable buttons, be easy to navigate and put the most important information up front.
Mobile speed and desktop speed are rated quantitatively, based on how long it takes a site to load using either a mobile device or desktop computer.
The Test My Site with Google tool is powered by Google PageSpeed Insights, a website content analysis program used by developers.
Since it takes just seconds to test your site, and assuming Google is right in that the information revealed may help improve its performance, why not give it a try.
As Google says in the blog post: “The world’s gone mobile. Now, it’s your turn.”
Image: Google
This article, "Google Launches Free Tool to Test Website Performance on Mobile and Desktop" was first published on Small Business Trends
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