Have you ever heard of Google mobile first indexing? Surprisingly, most people haven’t heard of it. The digital world is changing at a rapid pace, and the way that businesses interact with their customers is changing in ways you may not anticipate. This means that having an effective mobile website design is more critical than ever. If you haven’t heard of mobile first indexing, then you’re in the right place – we’re going to talk you through how it works and what it is.
Mobile Website Design
It doesn’t matter where you go; people are always on their smartphones. The power of all the knowledge in the world is in the palm of their hand, but it’s only useful if it can be read easily. Embracing modern technology is essential for any business, and if your website is an old, early-2000’s designed site, then you need to consider whether all your content is even available for people to look at. If your website is older, the navigation on a smartphone may not be possible, which puts you right to the bottom of the pile for your potential customers. Google agrees, which is why you’re going to slip right down the rankings if you don’t have a website that is mobile friendly.
Google Mobile First Indexing
Google will use the mobile version of your business website along with the content to rank your web page and index it appropriately online. It’s called “mobile first” because it’s a mobile website that Google will look at indexing first. Of course, this doesn’t mean that it’s just mobile sites that get indexed. If your main business website has a page not working, then Google will change the rank of this page, too. This basically means that Google is learning to prioritise mobile-versions of a website for indexing.
How To Get Mobile-First Ready
There are some steps that you can take to ensure that your website is mobile-optimised and ensure that you are well-prepared. Let’s take a look:
- You need good mobile content on your website. The content differences between mobile and desktop sites can be extreme and completely different, with the same keywords embedded. Carrying the same content – but a thinner version – can ensure you don’t risk losing your traffic.
- Keep the metadata the same, too; otherwise, you could lose your rankings here.
- Any of your pages should be accessible via your mobile website, but you need to continue to monitor the site and keep up with the SEO statistics.
- You can check your message in your Google Search Console to know whether your website has been changed to mobile first indexing and you should also have an email to tell you that your site has been switched.
- Ensure that your mobile web speed is excellent, as you want to have the best-prepared website for your business.
With all of this in mind, Google mobile first indexing should work well for you; optimisation is vital for your website.