It’s official! Mobile internet usage has overtaken desktop computer usage as the most used digital platform in the U.S., according to comScore, a global leader in digital media analytics.

In the past four years, consumer usage of a smartphone to access the Internet rose almost 400%. Tablet use soared 1,721% during that time period, and the two combined account for 60% of all time spent on digital devices.

The fastest growing consumer segment for mobile is…are you ready?…those over the age of 55, up from 60% in 2010 to 74% in 2014.

What this means is that your law firm websites and blogs better be optimized for mobile — not just to reach the prospects they were designed for, but because Google said so!

That’s right. Last month, Google announced that it will be changing its algorithm to use more mobile-friendly factors in its mobile search results on April 21, 2015.  This means if your site is not currently optimized for mobile devices, your page ranking will likely suffer.

To determine if your website is already mobile-friendly — and thus ready for this algorithm update — you can use Google’s mobile-friendly test. Just click on the link, enter your website and the analysis will be performed immediately.

If your website comes up as not mobile-friendly, talk to your website designer/developer about converting it now. It is now clear that those law firm websites that are not optimized for mobile will appear lower in search results beginning April 21.

Your emails also need to be optimized for mobile. If you use Constant Contact, they have a special right now where they will design a custom mobile email template for your firm for just $49. Or you can choose from one of their existing free mobile email templates on their website.

If you use Mail Chimp, the template you design on their site is automatically optimized for mobile. Don’t assume that your email marketing service is optimizing your email campaigns for mobile — check with them to be sure. The success of your legal marketing effort depends on it now more than ever.