This should come to you as no surprise... Google has added a new Google Webmaster Tools report for showing webmasters mobile usability issues that they pick up.
Google has been warning and showing hints that mobile UX may be a ranking factor for some time now, and the next step is to show webmasters what usability issues they have with their mobile sites. Now that this is done, Google may soon announce a ranking signal around this.
The new feature in Webmaster Tools is named Mobile Usability and can be accessed at google.com/webmasters/tools/mobile-usability.
Here are screen shots of two sites of mine from here.
Search Engine Roundtable needs help:
RustyBrick seems pretty good:
Which errors will Google currently show? The help document lists them all:
- Flash not supported
- A defined viewing area (or viewport) that adjusts to the device’s screen size.
- Content that flows in the viewport, so that users don’t have to scroll horizontally or pinch the screen in order to see the entire page.
- Fonts that scale for easier reading on small screens.
- Easy-to-touch elements (e.g., buttons) that are well-spaced from other touch elements.
- Visual design and motion driven by mobile-friendly technology.
John Mueller from Google announced this on Google+ just saying this will help people, but no mention of ranking signals. He wrote:
I know lots of you are running mobile-friendly sites, so I hope this new feature in Webmaster Tools makes it easier to find those few remaining issues that you might have missed.
Forum discussion at Google+.
