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GOOGLE LAYS DOWN
THE MOBILE LAW
IS YOUR HOTEL WEBSITE READY?
BY MARK ELLIS OF WELCOME SYSTEMS LTD
I
t looks like Google has been tinkering
again… Only, this time, their technical
bods have been working on something
rather profound.
Last year, it was announced that
the search giant would be introducing
something called a ‘mobile-first index’.
This sent the internet into a bit of a
meltdown with web designers the world
over suddenly making themselves very
prominent indeed, suggesting that
businesses, bloggers and anyone with
a passing interest in being found online
should immediately review their websites.
They certainly had a point, but is this
something the hotel industry should be
concerned about?
Not to spoil the surprise, but the
answer’s “yes”. Firstly, though… what is the
mobile-first index?
When you conduct a search on Google,
the search engine delves into a massive
repository of stored websites. This is
known as the ‘index’, and is the primary
way Google retains detailed information
about virtually every website on the planet.
For many years, Google sorted through its
index with the mindset of a desktop user;
mobile versions of the same websites
would be treated as important, but second
to their desktop counterparts.
Not any more. The mobile-first index
represents a complete about-turn on
that strategy; Google is now expected
to treat mobile websites as the primary
pages to index, pushing desktop versions
into second place. I say ‘expected’,
because no one really knows what
Google is up to, but the mobile-first index
seems rather overdue in a world that
has seen smartphone adoption reach
stratospheric levels.
20 Housekeeping management
Should you be worried for your hotel’s
website? Well, I’ve devised a simple test
you can perform right now to settle your
mind a little. Grab your smartphone and
load up your hotel’s website. Take a look at
how it displays. Is it instantly easy to use
without any pinching or zooming? Can you
interact with every page element including
the all-important ‘book now’ button for
your online booking system? If so – good
news, your website is mobile friendly
and therefore already tuned for Google’s
mobile-first index.
However, if you find yourself squinting,
pinching, fruitlessly tapping and basically
bashing the screen of your smartphone
into oblivion in an attempt to make the
website work, you really will need to do
something about it.
Let’s assume that your website has
failed the mobile-friendly test. What to do?
While it might be tempting to utter a few
swear words, have a quiet cry and sweep
it all under the carpet in the hope that the
mobile-first index is just a passing phase,
it’d be rather more prudent to get to work
building a mobile-ready web presence.
There are a significant number of things
that go into creating a brilliant hotel
website, but the most important thing you
can do is seek help.
You can’t – and, indeed, shouldn’t – do
this yourself. While there are plenty of self-
build web design tools out there, nothing
beats the steady, experienced hand of a
professional web designer. Speak to yours
today to ensure you’re ready for one of the
most important Google updates we’re likely
to see for a while.
www.welcome-systems.uk