It has been almost six months since we first wrote about Google’s Mobile-First indexing.
https://www.teclan.com/blog/digital-marketing/seo/google-now-indexing-mobile-pages-websites-make-sure-site-responsive/
There has been a lot of discussion and a lot of buzz around what it actually means. This post will give you a quick overview of what the update entails, as well as the main things to check for on your site to prevent a loss in traffic.
What is the Mobile-First Index?
The Mobile-First Index changes the way Google will be indexing the contents of websites.
At the moment Google looks at the desktop version of a site first and then bases how it will rank the mobile site according to that information. Once this update rolls out, the opposite of that will happen; Google will begin looking at your mobile site first, and from there will rank the desktop site.
When will it be released?
There is no official release date, but we do know the update is in the pipeline and being tested right now.
Why bring out Mobile-First indexing?
Nearly two years ago Google announced that more searches happen on mobiles than they do on the desktops.
As mobile is now the predominant way for people to search on Google, it makes sense for them to ensure the experience on this device is as good as it can be.
In lots of situations, websites provide a worse or thinned down user-experience on a mobile device which is not as good as on the desktop site. This happens more on mobile sites where separate URLs are used or where dynamic serving is being used.
Checking the content of your website.
1. Look at the mobile version of your site. Is the content from the desktop version visible and accessible? You should be providing a consistent experience for users no matter the device they access the site on.
2. Do not hide or remove content on the mobile site. Think of ways in which you can have this content on both. You ideally want content to be accessible regardless of how the site is accessed.
3. Make sure you also consider the best way to move this content over to the mobile site. You do not want to sacrifice your user-experience just to meet this requirement.
For example, do not put a large amount of content at the top of an e-commerce category page, pushing all your products way down the page. Consider moving the content lower down the page or partially hiding it with a ‘read more’ button or in an accordion.
4. Getting a mobile friendly and responsive site is the best way forward.
Contact teclan to find out more about our responsive design service. We design award-winning, Search Engine friendly and user-focused responsive websites.
