Essent SiteBuilder Eases Transition to Google Mobile-First Indexing

SiteBuilder is designed from the ground up for mobile-friendliness, and businesses who use it can be ready when Google changes its ranking formula.

With Google’s announcement that it will modify its search algorithm to give mobile websites higher priority in search rankings over desktop websites beginning in March 2021, now is the time for businesses to examine their own websites and get ready.

It’s imperative to have a web content management system that not just supports mobile-friendly websites but a CMS that makes it easy to create mobile-friendly sites.

It should avoid unneeded work and re-work to make the mobile version as robust as the desktop version; avoid re-coding portions or duplicating steps to make mobile and desktop "match;” and handle deeper technological infrastructure like structured data and metadata without the website creator having to worry about it.

Essent SiteBuilder is designed from the ground up for mobile-friendliness, and businesses who use it will have what they need from a CMS to be ready when Google gives mobile-friendly websites higher priority beginning in March 2021.

Multiple Ways to Mobile

A single responsive site with content that moves around or resizes based on the mobile or desktop view is likely to see little disruption from the Google switch.

SiteBuilder supports several approaches to mobile-friendly websites, including our recommended approach of a single responsive site that’s friendly on both mobile and desktop.

Responsive sites are likely to be well received once Google modifies the search algorithm. The Google change is to move to mobile-first indexing, which means that while Google previously considered desktop to be the primary version of a website, the search giant now will consider mobile to be the primary version.

A single responsive site with content that moves around or resizes based on the mobile or desktop view is likely to see little disruption from the Google switch; whether Google looks at the desktop or mobile version, it’s effectively the same site with the same content.

SiteBuilder also supports adaptive design, where the website detects the screen size and selects the appropriate layout for the content. Similarly to responsive design, this approach should work well with mobile first-indexing provided the layouts include the same content.

Finally, SiteBuilder supports alternate mobile domains where one website is made for desktop and a separate mobile domain (the familiar m.website.com, for example) serves up a different site for mobile sessions. This approach may be more labor-intensive due to re-work in having two versions of the sites "match.” There is also a greater chance that the sites differ and therefore rank differently depending on which one Google considers the primary. Nonetheless, alternate mobile domains are supported.

Content is King

Ideally, the mobile and desktop versions are one website with identical content that simply adjusts to the screen size, as SiteBuilder supports.

Content is the No. 1 item in the checklist of readiness for Google’s change. Ideally, the mobile and desktop versions are one website with identical content that simply adjusts to the screen size through responsive or adaptive design, as SiteBuilder supports.

If the mobile and desktop versions are in fact two different websites, however, then the first task in getting ready for mobile-first indexing will be ensuring that the two sites have the equivalent if not identical content (words, images, videos, etc.).

There are a number of ways to match the content from mobile to web versions, including the SiteBuilder-supported responsive and adaptive designs mentioned above.

Making a List

SiteBuilder supports structured data, metadata, and XML sitemaps and in many instances automatically generates the code that helps Google understand the content. Companies can list products and have the coding details automatically handled.

Additional checkpoints that Google and others recommend should be equivalent from mobile to desktop include:

• Structured data: Structured data is standardized code that Google uses to understand the content on a page and its context. For example, if a page contains a recipe, structured data says in a standardized way that Google understands that this is indeed a recipe, this part is the ingredients, and so forth. SiteBuilder supports structured data and in many instances automatically generates the code so that companies can list products and have the coding details handled.
• Metadata: Metadata includes page titles and descriptions that Google can read to understand page contents, page purpose, and the page’s relevance in search results. SiteBuilder supports metadata by making simple Title and Description fields. More powerfully, SiteBuilder automatically generates metadata for product pages: SiteBuilder generates the title, description, and page itself as a consequence of managing products in the back office; users manage their products like normal in one place and SiteBuilder handles the rest.
• Social metadata: Social metadata helps web pages present well when linked on social media. For example, Twitter provides a standardized set of code called a Twitter Card that allows a page to present cleanly with a headline and image on a card when it’s linked on Twitter. While SiteBuilder does not automatically generate the code as it does for structured data and metadata, SiteBuilder does support social metadata that’s added manually.
• XML sitemaps: Sitemaps including XML sitemaps help Google understand the structure of your website, which pages are most important, and how the pages are related. Internal linking accomplishes some of this, but sitemaps make it easier for Google to crawl (inspect) your site and know what’s important. SiteBuilder automatically generates XML sitemaps including for automatically generated product pages.
• Search Console verification: Both the mobile and desktop versions of a website should be verified via Google Search Console. SiteBuilder allows easy verification for both types of sites with Google code that is manually placed on a SiteBuilder master page.

Readying a website for mobile-first indexing is ultimately an activity in Search Engine Optimization, and SEO is an ongoing practice. And SiteBuilder is built to automate SEO, specifically for ecommerce, and automatically applies SEO best practices simply as a result of running the business.

• Ensure Google can access the content on mobile: It sounds basic but in order for Google to find and present your content, Google needs access to the content. Bits of code called meta robots tags let Google know a page should be crawled and indexed. These need to be on both the desktop and mobile pages. In SiteBuilder, meta robots tags are on by default and can be turned off in a simple dropdown menu if need be.
• SEO: While this isn’t necessarily a specific item to check, it’s important to keep in mind that readying a website for mobile-first indexing is ultimately an activity in Search Engine Optimization (SEO). SEO is an ongoing practice and mobile-friendliness is only a part of it. SiteBuilder is built from the ground up not just for SEO, but specifically for Ecommerce SEO. The intent is that business people don’t need to understand everything that search engines want; instead, SiteBuilder automatically applies SEO best practices simply as a result of business people managing business. Business people don’t need to know everything SEO; they just need systems that understand it and do it automatically.