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So if you have a website that relies on Google for traffic, and a lot of that traffic comes to you via mobile devices, then right now you may be getting just a little worried if those websites are not that mobile friendly.

And just in case you haven't seen the memo then I should tell you that Google wants to see all sites that want to go on getting traffic from them, via mobile devices, jump through some hoops to make those sites mobile friendly.

Of course you might think that there's no drama there, it's not a big deal to make your websites responsive. There are responsive themes out there if you're running WordPress and there's sure to be some CSS or Javascript that you can just plug into your HTML site that will do the job. And there's no need to rush because we've got nearly six weeks before it's all going to happen.

I was beginning to feel a little complacent about all that, not because we had nearly six weeks to get everything done, but because we've been building responsive websites and upgrading old sites for a long time. We didn't have any inside knowledge about Google's future plans, we just knew that if we wanted sites that people could see, and use, on their mobile devices then we had to make them mobile friendly.

So I was feeling pretty relaxed about the whole deal and yesterday, even when I saw a couple of messages in Webmaster Tools that had suject lines that suggested that there were mobile-type problems with sites that I already knew were responsive, I was still relaxed.

How could there be a problem? Google must have got it wrong. But of course Google didn't get it wrong. Google doesn't get anything wrong because Google is always right and I should have remembered the two basic rules of Google. The first rule is that Google is always right while the second rule is that if Google is wrong then refer to the first rule. Google is always right.

Now I still haven't had an opportunity to look at those messages in Webmaster Tools, I've just been too busy, but I have heard from another SEO here in Australia who got a similar message for a website that he knew was responsive so I'm probably getting the same message.

According to Google his responsive website was not responsive enough ... he needed to have more space between the navigation links so people could actually click on the right link. How much room between links is going to be enough to satisfy Google? I have no idea but if you're using a responsive WordPress theme then it may not be easy to make some extra room between those links.

Any webmaster who thinks he has earned the title just because he can build a site in WordPress is suddenly going to have to learn some coding skills to get those extra spaces in there. And while we're scratching our heads about that who is Google to decree that there isn't enough room between the links?

Well obviously we all know the answer to that question. If we are totally reliant on Google for our traffic then we are going to do everything in our power to keep Google happy and when Google tells us to jump the only question we are going to ask is how high they would like us to jump.

As someone else said on their blog, we are now seeing Google impose its will on website owners and tell them how they should design their websites and what the finished product should look like. I wonder how much longer it will be before Google makes some more pronouncements about web design and what will come next?

We're not allowed to have too many ads on our web pages, we can't have too many ads above the fold, our pages can't be too light on content and they have to load fast. Now our navigation links can't be too close together and we can't have too few pages. There is even an expectation that all websites of a certain type will contain certain pages.

It's scary isn't it? When you look at that list of things that Google insists on seeing in your websites if you want to have any hope of achieving any sort of ranking it just goes to show you how much control Google is already exercising over us.

So if you haven't started already, now is the time to start getting out of your reliance on Google for traffic. There are plenty of other ways out there to attract people to your websites and you simply must start using them. I've got a number of clients who have listened to me and are getting great sales from their website without appearing anywhere near the top of Google for their search terms.

Only yesterday one of them said to my partner that she hadn't really believed him when he told her of other ways, besides Google, of getting the message out about her website but once she tried them the traffic and the sales just started rolling in and she's very happy not to be reliant on Google.

You can live without Google. You can sit back and laugh as you watch Google flex its muscles because Google is not the only source of traffic on the planet and the sooner you realise that the sooner you will stop jumping for Google and start connecting with real people who want what you're selling.