Are You Ready for Mobile First Indexing?

Updated January 10, 2023

First Things First

As you may have heard, Google is going to be splitting their index soon so mobile websites and desktop websites are ranked differently on the search engine results page. While nobody is 100% sure how much of a change this will actually make, it pays to be careful. So, how can you make sure your website is ready for mobile first indexing?

Why All the Fuss?

Over half of website visits are now made on mobile devices, so the mobile index is going to be important for your website. The trend is heading upwards too, so who knows what percentage of website visits will be made on mobile devices in 2020?! Having a functional mobile website has long been integral if you want to make sure you’re presenting a professional appearance, but now your site will only show in searches on a mobile device, if Google thinks the site is worth ranking highly.

Check Your Site Speed

Google’s Page Insights tool has two different tabs on it for a reason. They have made it easy for you to check what’s working well on your mobile site, and what’s working well on your desktop site. This data should help you make sure your website is up to scratch when the mobile index goes live.

Check For Traffic

Firstly, check your own analytics. While the general trend is pretty even, your business might be different. Some businesses will attract more mobile visitors than others. B2B businesses, in general, should have a lower percentage of mobile visitors than B2C for example. But until you check the data, you won’t know for sure.

Is Your Content Mobile First Indexing Friendly?

As well as making sure your site is optimized for mobile devices, you should also make sure that your content is optimized. If you’re creating text content, it shouldn’t all be long form. The longer the article, the harder it is to read online. If you’re creating other types of content, like video or infographics, make sure that they work well on mobile. Can you zoom on the image? Will the video go full screen if someone clicks on it?

Are you ready for the split index? What changes have you made to how you practice SEO on your website in anticipation of the upcoming changes?

Photo credit – Top: Wikipedia
Photo credit – Bottom: Robert Scoble