How to prepare your website for Google Mobile-First Indexing

Over time, mobile Internet users have been increasing gradually and today the number of users who surf the web through desktop computers has been exceeded. Anticipating a further increase in mobile internet users, Google has announced a significant change to its algorithm in the form of mobile-first indexing.

What is mobile first indexing?

Until now, Google used to crawl your website and index it based on its desktop version. But now, it will index your website and rank it based on the content of your mobile site. This change of prioritizing the mobile version of websites in Google’s algorithm is called mobile-first indexing.

Essentially, all websites must adhere to the rules of this new algorithm if they want to maintain their Google search engine ranking and get organic traffic to their website through Google. However, if your site is not optimized for this new algorithm, you will surely get less traffic.

So, here are some tips you should follow to make sure your site is ready for mobile indexing first:

Tip 1 – Use Responsive Design

Using responsive website design is very important to maintain your website ranking. Responsive design means your site needs to adapt to the screen size of all types, be it desktop, tablet, or mobile. Websites with responsive design not only adapt to any screen size but are also highly accessible and fluid on all types of devices and thus help retain your target audience.

Tip 2: Make sure your site loads faster

No doubt the design of your site is very important, but aside from that, the speed at which your site loads on different devices is also crucial to the success of any website. Therefore, you need to ensure fast loading time of your site not only on desktop but also on mobile devices. Today, users expect pixel-perfect images along with a split-second render time for most websites. Only if your site is fast will it have a lower bounce rate and invite more engagement time, which is essential for your high search engine ranking.

Tip 3: Show the same content

Although Google hasn’t clarified much about its new algorithm yet, it has said this repeatedly: “Make sure you publish the same content on your mobile and desktop sites. That means articles, the same links, and the same features.” Therefore, it is only in your best interest and in accordance with Google’s algorithm to offer the same type of content that fits properly on your site as seen on all different types of devices.

It’s a good idea to follow the tips above to make sure your website is ready for Google Mobile-First Indexing before Google implements its new algorithm.