April 16, 2015: With Tax Day behind us, today Didit examines the web sites of the most prestigious accountancy firms in the U.S. to get a sense of this sector’s vulnerability to the upcoming changes to Google’s mobile algorithm popularly referred to as “mobilegeddon.” This companies on this list represent a subset of the larger list curated at The Vault.com.
This study is the latest in our pre-4/21/15 series of studies, which, to date, have included:
a) Major U.S. PR Firms (published 4/2/15)
b) Large cap companies on Long Island (published 4/6/15)
c) Major New York-based advertising agencies (published 4/9/15)
d) Major U.S. Charities (published 4/14/2015)
e) Major “White Shoe” law firms in the U.S. (published 4/15/15)
Methodology
Didit ran each accountancy firm site through Google’s Mobile Friendly Test application page (https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/mobile-friendly/) to see whether Google considers each site “mobile-friendly.” The error types causing any test failures were logged, and a screen capture was made of each report. Testing was begun and concluded on 4/14/2015.
Here is a summary of findings:
1. 44 percent (23) of the 52 U.S. accountancy sites surveyed are fully “mobile-friendly” according to Google’s definition.
2. The most common errors seen on the 29 sites failing Google’s Mobile Friendly test were:
a). Links spaced too closely together to be easily clicked on mobile devices. 25 sites had this error.
b) Mobile viewports not being set correctly. This error can cause the site to render in less than 100 percent of mobile display space. 23 failing CPA sites had this error.
c) Text being set at a size too small to read on mobile devices. 23 failing sites had this error.
d.) Blocking of resources necessary for the Googlebot to correctly parse the resources referenced by the web page. 19 accountancy sites had this error.
e) Content wider than screen. This error can cause the site to become arbitrarily “cropped” along the horizontal dimension when viewed on a mobile device. 15 failing sites had this error.
f)Incompatible plug-ins.The use of plug-ins (for example Flash) that render well only on desktop devices is discouraged by Google’s mobile algorithm. 2 failing site had this error.
Analysis
Large accountancy firms use their websites for a variety of purposes, including branding, recruiting, PR, and as a portal for prospects to approach the firm directly. Given the sizeable investment many have made in their web properties, it would seem reasonable that most firms would prefer that these sites render as well on mobile devices as they do on traditional large format desktop displays.
The fact that a given accountancy firm fails to pass Google’s Mobile Friendly Test does not mean that it will be invisible on mobile devices. But Google has indicated that poor showings on this test may result in less visibility in search results made from mobile devices under certain circumstances. This is obviously a concern as mobile traffic — and searches made on mobile devices — grow in importance. Digital marketing consultancy site Emarketer.com has observed that “2015 will see mobile search reach the tipping point — the stage at which the majority of spend, organic traffic, and paid clicks comes from smart phones and tablets.”
Didit’s findings should not be cause for panic. In most cases the actual problems causing a “Fail” on Google’s Mobile Test can be quickly resolved — sometimes in under an hour. Because CPA firms have only a few days to rectify these problems, firm senior management should take this issue seriously and make any corrections required in time for the 4/21/15 deadline or at least as soon as possible.
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