When "Mobile Friendly" isn't

Google's Mobile Friendly Test tool may not always be accurate.

[ken_b]

Like lots of folks I moved to a mobile friendly wed design this spring, the move went pretty much well. My pages all recieved the coveted "Mobile Friendly" label in the mobile serps. Mobile traffic increased quite a bit, which was nice.

But...

A small number of my pages used a modified layout that I wasn't totally happy with. These are my highest trafficked "landing pages" bringing most of my mobile and other traffic to the site, so making a change was a bit nerve wracking.

Anyhow I finally got around to modifying the layout again and of course ran the new layout through Google's Mobile Friendly Test tool. Those pages ALL returned an "Awesome" result from the Mobile Friendly Test tool.

Those pages promptly all lost their Mobile Friendly label in the mobile serps. The incoming Mobile traffic to those pages took a corresponding hit. Interestingly, for the most part those pages maintained the spot in the mobile serps, any changes were only maybe one place.

Makes me think that the "Mobile Friendly" label may be more important than I had thought before.

And more importantly that the Mobile Friendly tool needs to be looked at only as a crude reference point in the design process.
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[not2easy]

I'd agree with those observations. I rely more on what I check in the Search Console using Fetch as Google because it tells me whether it is able to get/access all resources and render the page as expected. The W3 Jigsaw Tool tells me if I need to edit something. I am not aiming for a validation sticker, but it helps point out things I may have missed. The page speed tool is pretty basic IME and lets things slide that should be addressed.

[ken_b]

I haven't used the fetch as G much, but I have run the pages thru the W3 Jigsaw Tool and they validated.

I guess I need to look at the Fetch as Gbot more.

[not2easy]

Just a note about using the Fetch as Google tool - among the "Blocked Resources" shown they include their own AdSense files. Ignore.

[iwrconsultancy]

Old thread, but I'd agree that what Google regards as 'Mobile friendly' is not necessarily what mobile users regard as the same. The issue is that Google's requirements force a 'WAP-style' vertical column display on devices which are perfectly capable of displaying the website in its proper layout, and as the user you can't turn that behaviour off. I find this incredibly frustrating myself, and I'm sure it has a damaging effect on hit rates for the kind of visitors who are more likely to do business.