Mobile first indexing has been the talk of the town recently. The latest development towards a more friendly mobile experience comes from Google and is meant to change the mobile experience for the better.
Google has a strict and reliable check on analytics related to mobile users and a change in this regard was long overdue.
While mobile first indexing is making rounds across social media, there still is plenty of confusion around its meaning for business owners. What are they required to change? How does mobile first indexing actually work? And, is a mobile friendly site good enough or would more changes be required?
There is a major upgrade on the cards, and as is usually the case with change, people have their reservations.
In this blog post, we will run you through the basics of mobile first indexing in relation to your website and to the business you run. We will also look at how this revolutionary change in indexing impacts business owners and whether any major changes are required on your already mobile friendly website.
What is Mobile First Indexing?
Without any further ado, we start by mentioning what mobile first indexing actually means. For those who are unaware of the details, mobile first indexing relates to mobile-specific indexing for mobile users. This form of indexing means that Google will now be using the mobile version of your websites as a definite baseline and benchmark when displaying results and determining search rankings for mobile users.
The reason this form of indexing is called ‘mobile first’ is because the search engine won’t only be relying on the mobile version when displaying results. If your website doesn’t have a mobile-friendly version to boast, the desktop version will be included as an alternative within this list. However, it is pertinent to note that the lack of a practical mobile friendly experience can have a negative impact on your rankings. Your rankings would fall down for both mobile and desktop users.
On the contrary, if you have a mobile friendly version of your website, your rankings will witness a significant boost. Your website will witness a significant boost even for searchers on a desktop.
The use of mobile first indexing by Google shows a basic reversal in the way Google has approached indexing. It is pertinent to note now that the desktop site was previously used as the primary source by Google. With mobile first indexing, Google is now keener to favor mobile friendly websites.
What Can You Do?
First of all, stop panicking. Regardless of whether you have a mobile friendly site or not, you aren’t very far away from getting in Google’s good books. This change is currently at a nascent stage and is gradually being rolled out for testing.
According to the guidelines mentioned by Google itself, you don’t have much to do if you have an identically good website for both desktop and mobile users.
If your current mobile version is not at par with the desktop version, then you would want to ensure that the load time and the page speed of your mobile website are prioritized and all images are optimized for quicker loading time.
Mobile first indexing has surely revolutionized indexing at Google. Focus is now on the mobile version of your website, including the load time and speed.
