Dealers are being urged to make their websites mobile responsive in advance of Google’s new Mobile First index.

The new Google algorithm, announced at the end of 2016, will see websites ranked on the mobile version of their webpage, rather than the desktop version when it launches.

Google has said it is designed to both reflect the increasing numbers of searches that are made on smartphones and ensure that its algorithms accurately rank the content that is being served.

According to Dragon2000, if dealers have a responsive website, or a fully functioning mobile version, then they should perform well in Google’s new ranking.

Dragon2000’s commercial director Mark Kelland (pictured) said: “Dealers with separate mobile sites need to ensure that all their content and structured markup are the same as their desktop version, otherwise they risk a drop in their website rankings. 

“Dealers who don’t have much involvement with their website and simply leave it to their provider may not even realise that their current site is not mobile responsive, with those particularly at risk being dealers that have ageing websites, or basic template sites.”

Kelland said that having a mobile responsive website gives the user a “far better experience” as images, text and layout will all scale properly.

“Websites that are not responsive leave the mobile user scrolling sideways across large images and text, which is frustrating, and will likely make them give up trying to use the site,” said Kelland.

“Dealers with basic or outdated websites that are not mobile responsive will undoubtedly miss out on a growing mobile audience, so they should switch to a modern-looking mobile responsive website as soon as possible.”