On April 21, Google will roll out significant changes to how it ranks websites on searches conducted on mobile devices. The full story is available here but essentially this means two things:

  1. Google will favor mobile friendly sites over non-responsive sites when searches are conducted via mobile devices.
  2. Google will take advantage of deep-linking technology to deliver information from mobile apps on its search engine results pages in a similar fashion to the way it currently does with websites.

As email marketers, we should already know how important mobile technology is to our industry. If you need a reminder, the fact that 65% of emails are first opened on a mobile device should buck your ideas up a little. However, email is just one component in the cross pollinating, online ecosystem (including paid search, SEO, conversion optimization, etc.) affected by the rapid rise of mobile engagement. Yes – you might have optimized your email marketing campaigns for mobile devices but failure to optimize other online components will result in less than optimum results. You have been warned.

Remember: Successful email marketing is reliant on a constant flow of new subscriber data. The average age of an email address is only 18 months, so it is vitally important that those lists are constantly replenished. If your potential subscribers are not able to (a) find your website and (b) subscribe to your lists from a purchase or registration via a mobile device your list building efforts will suffer. Because 40% of ecommerce transactions now take place in the mobile environment, this already represents a significant list growth opportunity for your business. As Google continues to integrate mobile technology into its search results, the balance of power will tip in mobiles favor. In this email marketing professional’s opinion, mobile is already too big to ignore.

How are you optimizing your business for the mobile age? Share your comments below:

This post first appeared on the iContact Email Marketing Blog.