The Mobile First Index + Your Website

By Robin Faller

Google continues to cautiously roll out its Mobile First Index. Your website’s rank will be based on your mobile version, not your desktop version.

How will the Mobile First Index work?

Google will be crawling your site based on your mobile view. The content and page speed of your mobile site will factor into the rank of both your desktop and mobile site. Google will most likely favor content, Title, H1 and structured data that appears on your mobile version.

What does Google have to say about it?

At SMX East in NYC this past fall, Google’s Gary Illyes was interviewed about the move to Mobile First during the Mobile First session. Key takeaways included:

● The primary driver to consider this was the tectonic shift to mobile device use
● Google wants to see a great user experience, fast load times are critical for the mobile consumer
● Google also wants to see the consumer get the best relevant content on mobile
● Dynamic serving sites may not perform as well unless they are properly structured
● Sites that are responsive will be fine, Google continues to recommend responsive design

During the transition Google will run two indexes, eventually moving to Mobile First.

How do I know where I stand?

Google has published resources to help you understand where your site’s weaknesses are.
Test My Site is one of them. The test will generate a checklist of suggested corrections to improve your load speeds. Continue to run regular tests on your site as new additions like widgets, plugins, and photos can slow things down.

Google has also pledged to continue to blog about the Mobile First Index so you can stay updated.

What if I need a site restructure?

If you need an update be mindful of the latest trends:

● User experience varies by industry, some industries require more content than others, some industries require more visuals than others
● Content has to be relevant and informative
● Write quality content that is useful to someone’s search intent
● Include visible conversion path so your audience can easily connect with you (phone, forms on every page, and chat)
● Responsive Design simplifies website crawling and indexing

Both our custom responsive website design and SEO services are based on Google’s best practices. Contact us for a free consult, 888-819-2336.