Are you ready for Google’s Mobile-First Indexing?

What you must know about Google’s mobile-first indexing…

In March 2018, Google announced they were in the final stages of evaluating their “mobile-first” indexing protocol for grading websites for their search results pages. Previously they had used the desktop version of websites for crawling, indexing, and ranking of web pages. But now that searches on mobile devices (mobile phones, tablets, etc…) have surpassed desktop searches, Google is using the mobile version of your website to determine the rankings on their search results pages.

In fact, Google recently began notifying webmasters via the Google Console whether their websites are being evaluated with the “Googlebot Smartphone”, their new robot that crawls mobile versions of sites. And indeed we have seen these notifications with many of our web development clients who have new sites that conform to Google’s best practices for design, speed and responsiveness. In other words, the conjecture is over, it’s actually happening. Google is evaluating only the mobile version of our clients’ websites, and soon they will be visiting yours!

Here’s how Google’s mobile-first indexing will affect your website (and ultimately your web traffic):

• If your website is mobile responsive, the new mobile-first indexing will not impact you as Google can evaluate the mobile version of your website. This doesn’t mean you will enjoy great search rankings, but rather that Google will be able to evaluate what you present to them on the mobile instance of your website.

• If you have a separate mobile website (eg. m.yourcompany.com) that does not include all the content on your desktop version, Google will not be indexing all your content (text, images, videos, etc…) because they will only be evaluating the mobile version. You can expect a drop in traffic, leads, etc…

• If you only have a desktop version of your website, you can expect your search positions to drop significantly or disappear especially on mobile devices. It is unclear what the future holds for Google evaluating desktop only websites, but it is bleak given the majority of searches are on mobile devices. Plus since most companies have become proactive in moving to mobile responsive design so you will essentially have no website at all!

So mobile first indexing is here and it’s shaping the search landscape, matching search queries with the best search results tailored to mobile screens that continue to dominate the landscape.

If you are not sure how your website stacks up against the new Google standards or would simply like to know more about our web development services for b2b and b2c companies like yours, we’re here to help.

Contact us below or simply give us a call at (908) 534-9044.

About The Author

We specialize in b2b, supporting the clients who are the "The Brands Behind the Brands." These are the supply chain partners of brands, either in Tier 1 or Tier 2 positions, who drive value through the delivery of goods, services and technologies. We enjoy blogging about all things related to Branding, Marketing, Inbound, Tradeshows, etc... And we're always happy to talk about any ideas you may have that might Get You To Your NEXT!