So, mobile first indexing…. First what the hell is it?
Firstly it’s something that Google will be bringing in very soon, so you need to be ready for it! And as you know, your website should be mobile ready. SHOULD! It is right? Cause that one came in about two years ago (??? Time flies these days). Mobile user experience (UX) should be a priority for your website. That part should already be in place. Does that mean you’re done though…? NOPE!
So, back to what is ‘Mobile First Indexing‘… it’s all to do with mobile-friendliness and your business. And so it should be.
STAT ALERT: 93% (maybe more) of all Google searches rely on Google.
Well I still haven’t told you what it is, have I? Firstly, it isn’t about mobile friendly design. Although it is very important to your search results, this is different.
“Although our search index will continue to be a single index of websites and apps, our algorithms will eventually primarily use the mobile version of a site’s content to rank pages from that site, to understand structured data, and to show snippets from these pages in our results.” This is what Google said of the move. We’re not there yet, and it is going to take a while to fully move over. But instead of having a GDPR scenario (again) would it not be better to be ready for the move?
Besides, we might not be there yet, but Google have started to move websites over to mobile first in batches. So you might already be in that batch, or be next.
So how can you be ready for Mobile First Indexing? Makes you want to bang your head against your desk doesn’t it?
1: is your website mobile friendly? I know I said it wasn’t anything to do with this, but it still counts. Do you want Google to index your website and someone try to view on a mobile? Not good. There are online testers out there, but you can always do it the old fashioned way, and just take a look on your mobile! However the online testers will tell you where you’re going wrong and how to fix it. I think I’ve done a blog post about this in the past… the GOOGLE MOBILE FRIENDLY TEST Just click the text it will take you to a blog with the tester. It’s really clever, you get a report and everything.
2: Is your content mobile friendly? Do you need EVERYTHING on your mobile site? Or is it worth prioritising the quality content and making sure that is on there? There are some mobile friendly guides that could make your life a little easier when it comes to your mobile site. Firstly, make sure your paragraphs are 5 lines or shorter. Make plenty of breaks in text (remember your screen size).
3: Go through Google search console, there you can crawl your website to check for mobile errors (go to crawl —> Fetch and then scan). Through he console you’ll also be able to check for 404 pages and loading speeds. So it’s really useful. It’s done on a traffic light system too, so quite simple to understand. Aim for green! 🙂
4: Don’t forget your SSL Google are bringing in penalties if you don’t have one as of July (next month)! Really important. Not only that, it makes you look bad if people are getting security notices about your website from Google (and Bing etc)
Basically that’s it! If you struggle with anything, let me know. I could help. My advice would be to make sure your website is 100% responsive and ensure your content reflects that. My website has a nifty little app that enables you to block certain content from mobiles and vice versa, so it’s really handy.
