Mobile first index – what is it all about?
Google first introduced the mobile first index to the world in 2016.
The announcement was that the change in page indexing would be introduced gradually in the following months, accompanied by tests.
That period ended almost a year ago. In March 2018, Google officially began implementing mobile-first indexing.
What is mobile first indexing?
It's exactly what the name suggests. It means that the mobile version of your website becomes the starting point for Google to evaluate your search engine rankings.
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If you monitor bot traffic (i.e., traffic generated by crawlers), you may notice increased traffic from the Googlebot smartphone. Mobile versions of specific websites are also cached.
Our crawling, indexing, and ranking systems defaulted to using the desktop version of a page's content. This could cause issues with mobile queries when the desktop version differed significantly from the mobile version. Mobile-first indexing means we will use the mobile version of the page for indexing and ranking. This is intended to help our users (primarily mobile users) find what they are looking for.
Source : Google Webmaster Central Blog
Where did this change come from? The number of mobile internet users reached half a billion in 2010. Today, that number is approaching 4 billion. Google is taking this trend into account, hence the increased emphasis on mobile user experience.
It's worth noting that this is "mobile-first" indexing, not "mobile-only." If a site doesn't have a mobile-friendly version, the desktop version can still be used in the indexing process. However, the lack of a mobile-friendly solution can negatively impact a site's ranking. On the other hand, a site offering better mobile-friendly solutions could potentially achieve better SEO.
"Mobile-first" also means that the mobile version of your website will be treated as the primary variant. Let's assume that the mobile and desktop versions of your website are equal. Perhaps you've optimized your content for mobile or are using a responsive design. In theory, such a change shouldn't significantly impact your search engine rankings.
On the other hand, the change itself is evidence of how Google is changing how it treats your site's content and how it prioritizes crawling and indexing. Until now, the desktop version was considered the primary version, with the mobile version treated as, at best, an "alternative."
For this reason, for a while, Google encouraged webmasters to create separate mobile versions (m.domain.com) and then use switchboard tags. The purpose of switchboard tags was to indicate that another page similar to the one containing the tag existed.
This allowed Google to properly rank both pages. In some cases, the search engine didn't even bother crawling the mobile version of the homepage—it simply showed users the URL to the mobile version.
This perception of desktop versions meant that they were prioritized by SEO specialists and marketers. Therefore, they were given priority over their complete content, structured data, and backlink development. Mobile versions, on the other hand, had less content and did not receive as many backlinks.
Frequently asked questions about mobile-first index
How important is the mobile-first index for the work of SEO professionals?
Most traditional techniques work just as effectively (when used correctly, of course). Google also notes that if you only have a desktop version of your site, it won't be penalized. No changes to XML sitemaps, backlinks, or canonical tags are required.
However, Google recommends taking appropriate steps:
- Make sure your servers can handle changes in crawl rating – this term refers to the number of queries Googlebot makes to your website while indexing it.
- Make sure that content, tags, structured data and internal links are identical in both desktop and mobile versions.
There is no major cause for concern – users will always be redirected to the appropriate version of the page.
Does mobile first index add mobile sites to some sort of separate index?
A single index (the same one Google currently uses) remains in use. The change to mobile-first indexing doesn't mean the creation of new "mobile" and "desktop" indexes. It all comes down to how content is added to the existing index.
What if I don't have a mobile version of my website?
If you don't have a mobile version and your desktop version isn't mobile-friendly, your content will still be indexed.
However, you may not rank as well as sites that are more mobile-friendly. This can also negatively impact your overall ranking in desktop and mobile searches, as your site will appear to have a poor user experience.
However, Google points out that it is better to have a high-quality desktop version than a malfunctioning mobile version.
Have all pages been indexed using mobile-first indexing?
In early December 2018, Google announced that more than half of all websites worldwide were now indexed using mobile-first indexing. Google will typically notify you via Google Search Console when your site has been moved to the new index.
Summary – why is it worth choosing Mobile-first indexing?
Mobile-first indexing is a response to new market trends – the internet is becoming increasingly mobile-friendly. Therefore, remember to optimize your website for mobile devices as much as possible – Google will certainly reward you for it, and you'll gain more opportunities to appropriately consume user traffic.
Summary
The above article covers the following topics:
- Mobile-first indexing is a Google system introduced in 2016 that prioritizes mobile versions of websites when indexing them.
- Mobile-first indexing is a Google model in which the mobile version of a website becomes the main basis for determining its position in search results.
- Mobile-first indexing is a single Google index that rewards websites optimized for mobile devices, requiring consistency of content and data between the mobile and desktop versions.
