Why it’s Important Your Website is Ready for Mobile First Indexing

Did you receive an email recently from Google Search Console titled “Mobile-first indexing enabled for….”?

What the heck is that about? Essentially, people searching on Google may start to see snippets from your mobile site’s content appear in the search results. No mobile site, no big deal… right? Wrong. Having a mobile optimized website is more important than ever before, since Google will now use the mobile version of your website as an indexing and ranking factor in place of the desktop version.

What is Indexing?

Website indexing refers to Google’s process of crawling, indexing and ranking websites.  Google indexes websites in order to provide Google Searchers the most relevant web results for their searches.  Traditionally, Google has primarily used the desktop version of websites in order to do so. As of recent, Google has recognized the importance of mobile indexing.

Due to the rise in smartphone use, Google has transitioned to prioritizing the mobile version of a website, known as mobile first indexing.  This does not mean that Google is only crawling the mobile version of your website, rather that it is the first version of your website Google is looking to crawl.  Now, the mobile version of your site is Google’s baseline.

So What Does This Mean?

Make sure your website is mobile friendly! If your mobile website is slow to load and is not optimized for the mobile experience, this could negatively affect your websites rankings.  Even if the desktop version of your site is operating at full potential, it may not translate well for mobile.  This is simple to determine. Browse your website from a smartphone and check for any glitches, unreadable text, or slow page load time. If you want to ensure that the mobile version of your website is properly indexed, follow these guidelines to ensure a mobile-friendly experience:

1. Your mobile website must have high-quality content that is equivalent to the content on the desktop version of your website.
2. In addition, the mobile site must also have the same data structure and metadata as that on your desktop version
3. You must confirm that your servers have the capacity to enable crawling on your mobile site in addition to your desktop.

Website indexing refers to Google’s process of crawling, indexing and ranking websites. Google does this in order to give Google Searchers the most relevant web results for their searches. Traditionally, Google has primarily used the desktop version of websites in order to do so. As of recent, Google has recognized the importance of mobile first indexing. Due to the rise in smart phone use, Google has transitioned to prioritizing the mobile version of a website, known as mobile first indexing. This does not mean that Google is only crawling the mobile version of your site, but that it is the first version of your website Google is looking to crawl. Now, the mobile version of your site is Google’s baseline for your website. So What Does This Mean? Make sure your website is mobile friendly! If your mobile website is slow to load and is not optimized for the mobile experience, this could negatively effect your websites rankings. Even if the desktop version of your site is operating at full potential, it may not translate to your mobile site. Check out your mobile website for any glitches, unreadable text, and slow page load time. If you want to ensure that the mobile version of your website is properly indexed, follow these guidelines to ensure a mobile friendly experience: 1. Your mobile website must have high quality content that is equivalent to the content on the desktop version of your website. 2. In addition, the mobile site must also have the same data structure and metadata as that on your desktop version 3. You must confirm that your servers have the capacity to enable crawling on your mobile site in addition to your desktop. To learn more about the steps to take to make sure your Google Ranking is optimized for mobile first indexing, visit Google Search Guides. You can also run a simple page speed test for mobile using Google’s Developer Tools.

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