The title of this article is purposely direct. While the statement “your website sucks” might not be true for everybody, most of the industry has yet to catch up with the mobile explosion. If your site is not mobile-friendly, your Google rank is likely to drop and you’ll be lost on the search engine.

News From The Search Engine Giant

The search engine giant is weighing in more on what makes a great website by helping users “discover more mobile-friendly content” (according to the company’s Webmaster Central Blog). It states, “Starting April 21, we will be expanding our use of mobile-friendliness as a ranking signal.” It goes on to say, “Consequently, users will find it easier to get relevant, high-quality search results that are optimized for their devices.”

In other words, if your website looks good on a mobile device, it is going to have a competitive advantage when it comes to coming up higher in the search engine rankings.

What Does This Mean For Advisors?

In a referral-driven industry, most advisors depend on client and strategic alliance introductions. Referrals are the main source of organic growth, and most of these prospects, when they get referred to you, then “Google” your name or company name.

It is becoming more common that this research will actually happen on a mobile device. Now imagine these prospective clients looking at their smartphones and seeing nothing show up because the website has fallen from the rankings. Starting now, that is a real possibility for sites that are not mobile-friendly. Many marketers and news outlets are referring to this as “Google Mobilegeddon.”

Even without Google’s recent announcement, if prospects go to a site that does not look good on a smartphone, it is likely to make a bad first impression. If your site falls into the category where a mobile visitor has to stretch the screen to zoom in to see something, the experience is probably so bad that a prospect is likely to get frustrated and not follow through on the referral.

What To Do?

“Google is introducing an update to their algorithm on April 21, 2015, which will prioritize mobile-friendly sites toward the top of search results. Responsive design is more important than ever,” said Matt Peterson, president of Make It A Great Day Inc., a firm that offers AdvisorFlex Websites.

Peterson explains that a “responsive web design” is one that provides an optimal viewing experience that has easy reading and navigation. A responsive site needs minimum resizing and it looks good across a wide range of devices from a desktop to a mobile phone.

Need help finding out what issues exist with your website? Check out Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test. But even that step isn’t really necessary. Just do a search on your smartphone. If the experience of your own site is frustrating, it is time to realize your site sucks! For the vast majority of people reading this article, it means it is time to reinvest in your most important marketing line item!

Mike Byrnes is a national speaker and owner of Byrnes Consulting LLC. His firm provides consulting services to help advisors become even more successful. Need help with business planning, marketing strategy, business development, client service and management effectiveness? Read more at ByrnesConsulting.com and follow @ByrnesConsultin.