Do you want to know how mobile-first indexing works? If yes, this article is for you. In this article, you will learn everything about Google’s mobile-first index. You can find a lot of information online about Google’s mobile-first indexing. But not every piece of information is essential for you. Here in this article, we have shared some vital information about the algorithm that you must know.
What is Mobile First Indexing?
In Nov 2016, Mobile-first indexing was announced by Google throughout their official blog. This algorithm was rolled out because of an active increase in mobile traffic as many individuals surf the web on their smartphones. After the algorithm was announced, priority was given to the sites that were SEO new york optimized for the mobile-first index.
According to Google, this algorithm aims to improve the quality of the mobile search results for users. Before this, for indexation of the relevant search, a desktop version was used. But now, the priority is given to the mobile version. Now you know about the algorithm, let’s talk about some best practices.
Also read: How To Make Landing Page Better
Mobile First Indexing Best Practice:
Google gives a complete list of the most valuable practices for mobile-first indexing so that your readers have the best experience. Some of the practices that Google shares are not new for you. The list is an accumulation of different tips and advice that Google has given over the years.
Some of the best practices include:
- Make sure Google can see lazy-loaded content.
- Make sure Google can crawl your resources.
- Use the same metadata on the mobile and desktop sites.
- Make sure your ads don’t make a bad mobile user experience.
- Provide high-quality images on the mobile site.
- Use a supported format for images and videos.
- Use the exact alt text on the mobile and desktop site.
- Video and image URLs should not be changed every time the page loads on the mobile site.
- Make sure videos are easy to find and view on the mobile site.
- Make sure the error page status is the same on the mobile and desktop sites.
- Avoid fragment URLs in the mobile site.
- Make sure the desktop pages have equivalent mobile pages.
- Verify both the mobile and desktop sites in Search Console.
- Check hreflang links on separate mobile URLs.
- Make sure the mobile site can handle an increased crawl rate.
- Make sure the robot.txt directives are the same on the mobile and desktop sites.
Some Most Asked Questions about Mobile-first Indexing:
1. Is mobile-first indexing adding mobile pages to a separate mobile index?
No, there isn’t a separate mobile-first index; Google Search continues to use only one index.
2. Is the mobile-first index live and affecting my site now? If not, when does it go live?
Google has been testing this indexing approach on a small number of websites decided based on anticipated “readiness.” Full roll out will take too much time as one of Google’s employees said it will take a few years before “we reach an index that is only mobile-first.”
3. Will Google only use my mobile site to determine my rankings?
According to Google, the mobile version of the website will be considered the prime version of how rankings are decided. But there are also some chances where the web version of the website could be considered.
4. When might Google use the desktop site to determine rankings vs. the mobile site?
Before mobile-first indexing, Google used to work on the web version of the website to determine the ranking.
There are some changes that Google will consider the additional ranking information of the web version of your site. But we can’t say they will index the web version after seeing the site’s mobile version.
5. What if I don’t have a mobile version of my site?
If you don’t have a mobile version of your website, then it will be a disadvantage for you because you can’t beat your competitor in this case. If your competitor has a mobile-friendly website, then they will get a higher ranking than you. So it would be best if you have a mobile version of your website or your website is mobile-friendly.
We hope this article about Mobile-First Indexing is helpful for you. Do share this content on social media, if you found it helpful for you in any manner