If your website isn’t mobile responsive by April 21, Google’s going to take 50% of your mobile traffic. Learn more in this post from Red Coyote Services.

If you’re a search marketing pro, you knew it would come sometime.

And now Google’s officially made the announcement.

Now, your website must be “responsive.” That means it displays correctly on all devices (smartphones, tablets, desktops, and laptops).

There’s some talk Google’s been rewarding responsive websites with better search rankings. But now, they’ll actively penalize websites that don’t. And they’re handing out a big whack this time!

Is Your Website Responsive?

It’s easy to check. Just visit Google’s Mobile Friendly Test Tool. Enter the link to your site. And in about 20 seconds or so, Google tells you whether or not you’re good to go.

If you want to see what your site looks like on all major device types, visit StudioPress, and insert your URL. If all goes well, your site looks like this. Your users don’t have to browse to the right or left to see any of it:

Why is Google Doing This?

Well, for obvious reasons. One report from comScore holds that 60% of all internet traffic now comes from mobile devices. 51% of that comes from mobile apps.

Remember, Google’s all about user experience. They want to put websites that users love most at the top of the search engines.

Now, websites ready for mobile and with the most attractive content get those positions.

What If You Fail to Act?

No one knows specifics, but the news won’t be good for you. Some experts think you’ll lose 50% of your mobile traffic.

The average website gets 50-60% of its search traffic from mobile devices. You could lose 25-30% of your total search traffic immediately.

To calculate what you could lose with more precision, login to Google Analytics. Then go to “Audience” on the left menu, and “Mobile” and then “Overview.” You’ll learn exactly what percentage of your traffic comes from mobile devices.

The Good News Is…

The silver lining this is Google says this update won’t affect organic search for non-mobile devices. So if Google caught you completely by surprise, you won’t lose everything.

But your losses will still be significant. The simple cure is to have your website redesigned to be “mobile responsive.”

Better act now – web designer’s schedules are filling up!