Answered by
Oliver Hall
Google's mobile-first indexing refers to the search engine's practice of primarily using the mobile version of a webpage's content for indexing and ranking. This shift reflects the predominance of mobile internet usage, as more users access the web through mobile devices than desktops.
Historically, Google indexed websites based on their desktop versions. However, as mobile traffic increased, this approach sometimes led to issues where mobile users would see content in search results that was not actually accessible on the mobile version of a site. To address this discrepancy and improve user experience, Google started prioritizing mobile-friendly sites by introducing mobile-first indexing.
With mobile-first indexing, Googlebot primarily crawls and indexes pages with its smartphone agent. This means Google predominantly uses the mobile version of the content for indexing and ranking, which is crucial since it could differ significantly from the desktop version.
Responsive Design: Ensure your site has a responsive design that adjusts smoothly to various screen sizes. This consistency between mobile and desktop content generally means fewer issues with mobile-first indexing.
Content Parity: Make sure the mobile version of your site contains the same important content as the desktop version. This includes text, images (with alt attributes), videos, and links. Disparities can cause changes in how your site is crawled and indexed.
Structured Data: Both versions of your site should have the same structured data. Be mindful not to add unnecessary structured data if it doesn’t pertain to the specific content of each page.
Metadata: Titles and meta descriptions should be equivalent on both versions of all pages.
Loading Speed: Mobile pages need to load quickly. Site performance is a significant factor in mobile rankings, so optimize loading times with techniques like image compression, reducing redirects, and leveraging browser caching.
Server Capacity: Ensure that your host server can handle an increased crawl rate. This adjustment is necessary because the shift to mobile-first indexing might increase the frequency with which Googlebot accesses your mobile pages.
You can check if your site has been moved to mobile-first indexing by using tools such as Google Search Console. The console will notify you through a message once your site is being primarily indexed using the mobile-first algorithm.
It is advisable for website developers and owners to proactively adapt to these changes to enhance their visibility and ranking in Google’s search results.