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http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/2015/02/finding-more-mobile-friendly-search.html
Q. How does this impact Homestead customers?
A. By default, our websites are not mobile friendly so mobile rankings could be impacted. The true impact of the change will not be known until Google applies the update on April 21st. We do partner with DudaMoblie who will create a mobile version of your site that will be considered mobile friendly. Through our partnership DudaMobile we offer a free option(with some ads) and a paid option, depending upon your needs. You can sign up for a DudaMobile account through your Homestead account. You can see how by clicking the link below.
https://community.homestead.com/homestead/topics/how_can_i_make_my_website_mobile_friendly
Q. Does my website need to be responsive?
A. No, Google has explicitly stated that the requirement is that the site be mobile friendly. Dudamobile fulfills this requirement and will maintain your ranking on mobile searches.
Q. Can I tell if the mobile site is setup correctly?
A. Yes, Google has a tool for testing if your site is mobile friendly. https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/mobile-friendly/ If your Dudamobile site does not show as mobile friendly, there may need to be something tweaked on the site. Dudamobile support will be able to assist you in this case.
Drew N, Alum
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262,816 Points
Posted 5 years ago
themieleman, Champion
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66,170 Points
In an unprecedented announcement, Google provided details regarding a significant change to their ranking algorithm which will occur on April 21st. In three weeks, the mobile friendliness of a website will become a major factor in search rankings--especially for searches originating on mobile devices. This change by Google is to ensure a quality experience for their users since about 1/3rd of searches are now performed on a mobile device.
Is Homestead keeping pace with these changes?
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3,272 Points
To make the site mobile friendly, does this code have to go on every page or just the home page? And does it go above or below the favicon code? <meta name=viewport content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"> Thanks.
Drew N, Alum
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262,816 Points
I understand if you don't wish to use Dudamobile for your site, but that is our recommended solution. We can try to help you with doing it manually if you have specific things to add to the site, but we are not able to give you advice on what you would need to do.
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Drew N, Alum
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262,816 Points
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1,644 Points
this is an unworkable fix for anyone who has more than 5 pages what are you going to do about it?
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936 Points
Homestead FAQ, Employee
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42,866 Points
Is there a way to make my website mobile friendly on smart phones?
Drew N, Alum
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262,816 Points
- 60 Points
Drew N, Alum
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262,816 Points
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1,276 Points
So responsive design was important to you and this site but we customers, shouldn't worry about it too much. Is that what you're telling us?
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3,590 Points
Here's an article about why it's vital for businesses to have a moblie-friendly website:
https://fortune.com/2015/04/21/google-mobilegeddon/
Until Homestead offers the ability to create professional-looking ad-free mobile-friendly websites, it has no business promoting itself as a business solution.
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3,590 Points
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1,644 Points
oh god I am rolling on the floor now. I use www.monitor.us, and you should too, to keep track of how often the servers go down. It is too often compared to other sites I have on godaddy and lycos which NEVER go down. My traffic has not been the same since mid-December 14, along the same time HS's servers were blacklisted for some reason. I can only hope the search engines are working on forgiving them and will return to normal soon.
susan2829, Champion
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43,192 Points
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1,644 Points
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936 Points
I would like to know why Homestead closed that thread to additional comments. This one "How can I make my website mobile friendly?"
susan2829, Champion
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43,192 Points
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936 Points
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396 Points
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240 Points
I'm a little concerned some of my sites are not going to pass the Google new update test: https://www.google.com/webmasters/too...
i tried using Duda mobile but it failed the test so it appears I will lose my rankings on Google if I don't change all of them over like I did www.digitalassetsmarketing.com
HELP!
Duda mobile doesn't appear to help since Google will rank off of your normal URL not the m.yourwebsite.com
THX! for any help!
Drew N, Alum
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262,816 Points
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3,272 Points
Here's what was suggested:
"Theoretically, your site is easy to make mobile friendly because if you switch off the stylesheet, images, and javascript, it "degrades" into a much simpler but still usable site. So if you weren't using a CMS and you knew your way around code, this would be a piece of cake!
You have only five indexed pages (http://goo.gl/pZHlOf), they're fairly simple, and the URLs are all in a fairly straightforward static format. So it would relatively quick and easy to migrate to another CMS and put 301 redirects on those existing URLs to send users and search engines automatically from the old pages to the new.
If there really is no mobile-friendly version of your current CMS, that is most likely your best option. Wordpress is relatively simple, can be very mobile friendly, and there are lots of people who can help you with any issues you might encounter."
My favorite part is "there are lots of people who can help you with any issues you might encounter".
Drew N, Alum
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262,816 Points
There are discussions of other options, but nothing that can be implemented in the near future.
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3,272 Points
Drew N, Alum
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262,816 Points
themieleman, Champion
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66,170 Points
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240 Points
Drew N, Alum
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262,816 Points
There is no limit to the number of pages that the paid version of Dudamobile can handle.
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396 Points
Drew N, Alum
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262,816 Points
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3,272 Points
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1,644 Points
duda is telling me I have to add the code to each of my 55 pages, it is NOT automatic, and, yes, they know I am a HS customer.
themieleman, Champion
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66,170 Points
themieleman, Champion
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66,170 Points
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5,960 Points
I have been working on a Duda mobile site for several days now. Paid the $98 I think it was? Tried several edits...my what you see what you get is not the same as everyone's smart phone. The previews are absolutely not the same as the real product.
Did a one hour redirect test...a dismal failure.
I am going to take my chances and see what happens.
To hell with Google and double hell to Duda.
http://www.customautosbytim.com
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1,644 Points
Duda took 3 days to get back to me and ignored my question as to why half my 53 pages don't show by giving me some form answer about Homestead and Duda
Google is ok, you cant blame them, 40 per cent of traffic is mobile these days. I would say the hell with you know who first.
susan2829, Champion
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43,192 Points
William I am mobilizing a site that has over 100 pages and no way does it make sense to try and make that many pages mobile and some contain tables and pdf's that just aren't mobile material. So, I have taken the primary pages, revamped them to work in mobile and put a text box on them suggesting visitors check out the site on the desktop for complete, comprehensive information. Right or wrong, it's the only way I could figure out how to meet Google's demands and still present a decent mobile site.
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3,272 Points
susan2829, Champion
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43,192 Points
Yes, I paid for the mobile as well as the desktop. The mobile didn't qualify for the freebie and I didn't want the ads. Here's the breakdown on their pricing:

This is a client's site and I'm not finished with it and there are some 'issues', but you're welcome to take a look to get an idea. It's www.techforag.com
susan2829, Champion
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43,192 Points
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1,644 Points
susan2829, Champion
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43,192 Points
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3,272 Points
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JoAnne2150
He basically said that it's NOT a good idea to have two different ones. Google looks for lots of content which pushes you up. So you need to have everything on your mobile site as well. Also, another point is that many young people nowadays only have their smartphones and no computer at home. I have several sites, but the one that I get the most activity on is coming from young persons. Getting close to half of my visitors are cellphone users. So that's the site I'm going to concentrate on first.
I tried out weebly.com and wix.com. They are both very good for people like us. You pay per site. I am going to use wix.com for this site: http://joanneleppo.wix.com/prce. just because I liked the templet for it. If I switch my others, I may use the other one, depending on which looks better for each site. I can't see the advantage of putting them all on the same host program financially. So that's going to be my solution for now. Thank you all for all your input. It has helped me a lot.
Lynn
WHC1666
Building a separate site for mobile would of course be the wrong thing to do. What is suggested here is adding a mobile folder to your existing site and creating mobile pages within your existing site effectively making your existing site larger.
Your son is correct in that a separate site would not go down well with the search engines.
PS - I am also a professional webmaster since 2001. - trust me this is sensible solution for people entrenched in Hometead. I use other forms of site building but have always used Homestead for my clients that want to look after their own sites. I build for them then teach them to use Sitebuilder Desk top - not Sitebuilder Plus - it's rubish.
Ian
JoAnne2150
WHC1666
Sitebuilder lite was introduced a few years ago for the absolute beginner who needed to build a site without any experience or understanding.
Sitebuilder lite evolved into sitebuilder plus which is meant to be a simple way to build your own site within preset parameters.
Desktop is more versatile but requires just a little more understanding and commitment it's well worth the effort.
Homestead prefer to push plus because it requires less support thus more profit for them. Homestead has been an adaption unlike Weebly and other site building products on the market. Many of the others started from scratch joinin the market late and when the internet had already evolved.
Homestead were one of the originals and are paying the price finding themselves in a bit of a straightjacket - Old story about pioneers. It is a great product first started I think in 1998 which was really early for this kind of product. A bit of a dinosaur, very difficult to adapt to new trends.
You can switch to desk top be just asking support to switch your account.