It's that time of year again: webmasters and marketers alike are scrambling to get their ducks in a row with the Google's announcement of the upcoming change to their search algorithm. Albeit somewhat of a mystery, Google's regular algorithm updates shed some light on the mystery surrounding search rankings. Lacking the full context of this update, pieces of information have spilled out to indicate that this update is going to have a huge impact on your business.

How huge you ask? This is the big one, folks. While the Panda and Penguin update impacted 12% and 4% of search queries, respectively, this update is slated to impact more sites than both updates. Moz has keenly pointed out that if you've been following along closely with Google's recent app changes, you'd notice the emphasis on the appearance of mobile SERPS and the development of standards that affect mobile. Therefore, this update comes as no surprise as Google seeks to reward those sites that are mobile-friendly.

But I'm a Web Designer and/or Developer, Why Should I Care?

Many designers and developers tend to forget the importance of SEO when designing a website. The important thing to remember is that a well-designed site is useless if no one can find it. Site crawlers who determine the value of your site will promptly demote even the most beautiful and compelling of websites if the on-site SEO isn't up to snuff. Whether you're crafting the initial stages of your information architecture or adding text and images to your site, SEO needs to be considered at each step of the process to ensure that your site will rank high on results pages.

So, What Can I Do About This?

Now more than ever is the time to make sure that your site is mobile-friendly and that you understand the implications of SEO when designing a site. Learning how to properly optimize for search engines is no easy undertaking, yet even having a basic understanding will further your sites ability to rank high and thus be discovered by users.

1. Test The Mobile-Friendliness of Your Site

If you know that your site is using responsive design, like those sites developed on the HubSpot Content Optimization System (COS), your website should be good to go for the impending algorithm change. If you are, however, unsure whether or not your site is ready, there are a bevy of tools you can use to check. Check out three of our favorite free tools for testing mobile optimization. 

2. Brush Up on Your SEO Savviness

Feeling a bit unprepared with your SEO knowledge (or lack thereof)? Luckily, here at HubSpot we have a number of free resources that can help you get up to speed. Check back this Saturday (4/18) for a post on our favorite resources to learn SEO skills. You can also tune in today (Monday, April 13th) at 11AM EST for Inbound.org's Mobile-Ready Sites Twitter Chat by using the hashtag #inboundchat to get insight into:

1. What are the new google changes for mobile responsive websites?
2. Why is Mobile responsiveness important- what do you tell naysayers?
3. What are some good solutions for being mobile ready?
4. What issues do you see when browsing on a mobile device?
5. What would make it easier to shop on mobile devices?