Mobile Seo Avoid Plugins

What are plugins?

• Plugins are things that have to be installed / updated in order to show content on a web page
• Technically, browser plug-ins are compiled third-party software components that extend the functionality of web content by calling into low-level browser interfaces.

One common plugin is Adobe Flash and like most plugins, Flash does not work well, if at all on different mobile browsers - to check if your pages are using plugins you can use the mobile seo tool.

Common plugins

• Adobe Flash
• Microsoft Silverlight
• Java and java applets
• Apple Quicktime
• Skype click to call

Plugins cause problems for mobile users

Google tells us...

"Most mobile devices do not support plugins, and plugins are a leading cause of hangs, crashes, and security incidents in browsers that provide support."

Plugins do not work - or soon will not work

All modern browsers have restrictions, or flat out do not allow plugins anymore for mobile page views.

• Internet Explorer is getting rid of plugins.
• Chrome intends to remove support for most plugins.
• Firefox prompts users before running plugins.

Avoiding plugins altogether is the best way forward

A part of the way Google determines if a page is mobile friendly is looking for plugins on your pages. If Google sees plugins on your mobile pages, it will determine that your website is not mobile friendly and your rankings will suffer.

Tools to check your pages

There are lots of ways to find this out...

• Our mobile seo tool uses the Google insights API and checks for plugins
• The official Google mobile friendly test tool
• The official Google pagespeed insight tool will also tell you.