How to prepare for Google’s Mobile-First Index

Posted by Andrei on February 03, 2017 in How To's

We talked already about the changes Google is going to make this year. One of them is “mobile first indexing” that basically means its search results index will prioritize mobile results first. This is not unexpected, since search queries on mobile have now surpassed desktop-based queries. It seems that people browse the internet more from their mobile devices than desktops, with 30% of online purchases being made on phones.

What exactly is mobile first indexing? Mobile sites have traditionally been indexed based upon the desktop version of a website, but soon (currently Google is just experimenting with it) mobile indexation will be based upon the mobile version of your site.

How to prepare for this mobile-first indexing? Well, keep reading and you’ll find out all there is to know about mobile-based index.

First and foremost, your website needs to be mobile friendly. In other words, your site must be fully usable on mobile phone browsers. The easiest way is to have a responsive design, that adapts to the screen size of the device being used. This is also Google’s preferred technology. But, if you choose to have a desktop version and a mobile version of your site, that will work too.

You should adjust your content. It means you need to create a shorter version of your content for mobile. When accessing a mobile site users have access to a smaller version of your desktop site, so it’s only normal that you need to have less content. This applies to all your content and sales copy, from homepage to product pages.

Consider making your website faster. Site speed is crucial these days for mobile users. Studies have shown that websites with a load time of more that 3 seconds lose many clients. Also, pay careful attention to the weight of content on a certain page, as this can really affect page speed.

Focus about user experience and engagement. These key elements are very important in a mobile world. It has to do with choosing the design and content that will make your users stay on your page and engage with various links and resources.

You don’t know for sure if your website is mobile-friendly? We recommend this website grader or you can run a test on this tool provided by Google.

Again, it’s true that it is going to take some time till Google makes these changes, but in the meantime, you should do all that you can to optimize your site and be prepared!