Mobile search has officially outpaced desktop searches, making the mobile search a market that businesses can’t overlook in 2017.

A little over a decade ago, cell phones were getting smaller.  And at that time, smaller meant better.  Even the 2001 hit movie Zoolander parodied our obsession with looking cool while talking on tiny devices.  Steve Jobs changed that in 2007 with the release of the iPhone.  The first smartphone for the masses instantly changed the way we view phones and their capabilities.  Over the next few years, these computers in our pockets continued to grow in popularity and size.

Today, nearly 7 in 10 American adults carry a smartphone and the percentage is even higher in the youth market.  There are countries in which more citizens own smartphones than PCs.  And all this computing power in such small devices has changed the way we search for and consume information.  We want answers to our questions, big and small, immediately.  On the go.  Right now.  Like, this instant.  So we pull out our phones and start searching.  Google knows this and is beginning to reward companies that know it too.

Mobile searches now outnumber those initiated on desktops and that differential is on the rise.  Despite that, the search giant has always ranked websites based on their desktop versions.  To bring these search results more in line with search habits, Google began testing a mobile-first based ranking in April 2015, based on sites’ mobile friendliness.  Google “crawls” and indexes every page of every site on the internet and ranks them based on a variety of criteria including keywords that appropriately indicate the topic and subject of a page, if there are links to and from it, and now also if the page is easily rendered and viewed on mobile devices.  In this new index, sites that have mobile-optimized pages are positively impacted, and see increased rankings in organic searches over sites that have pages that are not designed for ease of use on smartphones.

In November 2016, Google published information on its own blog indicating that it intends to begin rolling out the new method systematically over the coming months, as it is perfected.  The bottom line is that businesses that want their sites to be served up in organic searches better be mobile-friendly.  It is important to note that sites that do not have a mobile version will be adversely affected in rankings across the board.  Sites without mobile-friendly pages will be served up lower in results, not only on searches done on phones but also in desktop searches.

The bottom line?  Google has made it clear that mobile is the future—is your business ready?

Titan Growth’s own, Kristen Seal, was chosen as a finalist for the 2016 Annual San Diego Business Journal’sWomen Who Mean Business Awards. Finalists were recognized for their ambition, leadership, and contribution to San Diego’s overall economy and community.

The awards ceremony featured stories and accomplishments of some brightest and most influential women in San Diego. Many of these women are renowned worldwide for the work they’ve done and the trails they’ve blazed in business, education, art, and politics. Of thousands of nominees, we are thrilled to announce that one of our own team members was chosen as a finalist!

More about Kristen and Titan Growth

During the seven years that Kristen has been part of the Titan Growth team, she has made essential contributions to the company, which have led to the company’s success and numerous awards. Most notably, Kristen has played a strong role in the advancement and management of our SEO teams and strategies. Her work ethic, optimistic attitude, and vision are what truly makes her a Woman Who Means Business.

Kristen, along with the rest of the team at Titan Growth, is focused on delivering meaningful SEO and PPC services to businesses around the world. Of course, none of this could be possible without a great team, and cutting-edge technology. Titan Growth’s secret sauce is a proprietary search engine spider, TitanBOT, which emulates search engine behavior. This important tool is used to identify, test and predict the outcome of updates made to the site before they are taken live. A new version of TitanBOT was recently released, featuring the latest advancement, TitanBOT Nucleus. TitanBOT has been essential to over a decade of client success and will continue to help more clients reach new heights online in the future. Kristen and the Titan Growth team are looking forward to another great year. Congratulations Kristen!

Titan Growth was recently recognized as a Google “All-Star” Partner  – one of a handful in the USA!

This year’s Google All-Star Summit was a great chance for Google All-Star Partners across the world to come together, meet with some of the industry’s top names and learn about up-and-coming AdWords products. The summit was an intimate conference since there are only a handful of Google All-Star Partners worldwide among over 17,000 certified companies. Our team was able to meet some great people, learn about new Google features that are currently in beta testing, and of course, see the Googleplex!

While few, the Google All-Star Partners represent an elite group of top-performing Google Partners. The Google Partners Program itself is designed to cultivate proper strategies across the globe by partnering with agencies who deliver top-notch advertising services. In order qualify as a Google Partner, an agency must manage and maintain strong performance, have passed Advanced Google exams and employ best practices. Once a partner, agencies have access to special events, training, industry research and a first look at the new Google feature, so they can continue to provide their clients with great services.

At Titan Growth, we have been offering SEO and PPC services for over a decade, and we have helped many businesses increase their online market share, traffic, and revenue. An effective online marketing strategy can be very powerful, and we love watching our clients grow. We are thrilled to be named a Google All-Star Partner this year, and will continue to deliver services that represent that title for years to come!