The increasing relevance of mobile website optimisation has received a further boost this year. On everyone’s lips since 2016, Google officially announced the first roll-out for the switch to the mobile-first index in March 2018. But what does this mean in concrete terms for individual webmasters? What needs to be done now to avoid losing visibility in the search results as a result of the changeover? And how does the new index actually work?
What does “mobile-first index” mean?
Let’s get one thing straight from the start – the switch to a new index does not mean the existence of two separate indices. Until now, Google has used the desktop content to index a website. Based on the content of the desktop version and its performance in terms of ranking factors, the positioning of individual subpages in the search results was primarily, and for the most part still is, determined. This is independent of the device from which the search is ultimately performed.
However, due to the increase in mobile search queries, this approach is no longer up to date. In addition, mobile and desktop versions sometimes have different or reduced content for mobile versions. This can be observed in particular when a separate mobile version is used instead of a responsive solution. Finally, the page speed factor is becoming increasingly important.
What does Google’s response to these developments look like in concrete terms?
The indexing of a website is now largely determined by the mobile version. After the changeover, this is primarily used to determine the ranking positions for your own site – regardless of whether the search is carried out on a mobile or desktop computer. If the mobile version of the website has reduced content compared to the desktop version, this can have a negative impact on the rankings.
Reduced content for the mobile version was deliberately chosen in the past, as it was sometimes assumed that users had different intentions depending on whether they were navigating via mobile or desktop. However, the new evaluation approach means that ranking potential is lost. It is therefore important in future to always optimise the entire content of a website for the mobile version.
What happens if a website does not offer a mobile version?
Mobile First implies that the mobile version is used first for the evaluation. If this is not available, the desktop version is used as the basis for indexing. In this case, however, you will have to reckon with losses in terms of the ranking assessment. An additional mobile-friendly version will therefore have clear advantages in the ranking compared to desktop-only websites.
What measures protect me from ranking losses in the course of the changeover?
The switch to a mobile-first index takes place in many small stages and is rolled out gradually. You can find out whether your website is already included in the mobile-first index via notifications in the Google Search Console.
Nevertheless, it is now high time to ensure a few points in order to prevent possible ranking losses:
- Make sure that your mobile version offers the same content as your desktop version. This means that all content is used for the ranking evaluation on the mobile version.
- The page speed factor is becoming increasingly relevant. In future, Google will make finer distinctions with regard to page speed, so that the weighting as a ranking factor will increase in future.
- If you have a stand-alone mobile version of your website, check the following points:
- Structured data: use the same structured markup as on your Deskop version.
- Hreflang labelling: If you use Hreflangs for an international website presence, make sure that mobile URLs point to the mobile versions and desktop URLs to the desktop versions.
- Google Search Console: Add your mobile version to the Google Search Console.
- Metadata: Title and description should communicate the same meaning on both versions.
- Open Graph tags and Twitter Cards: Make sure you also optimise these for the mobile version of your website.
