Google Mobile-First Indexing is Rapidly Approaching

The change has been in the offing for almost a year and now it’s only a month away. If you feel like you’re in need of a crash course or just a review, here are some materials to explain what Google’s doing and what you need to consider in response.

Google’s switch to Mobile First Indexing – where mobile-friendly web content is boosted in search rankings, desktop-only content is entirely dropped, it’s likely that Google Ad fees will be altered according to mobile friendliness -- takes effect next month.

Google announced last March that it’s making the change to give priority to mobile-first content. It then announced in October that the change will also remove websites without a mobile component from Google search rankings entirely.

The change effectively means that Google is declaring itself mobile-first. Whereas Google previously has historically considered the desktop version the primary version of a website, Google now will use the mobile version of a webpage to determine search rankings.

It has yet to be seen to what degree sites will fluctuate in the rankings, but it’s fair to predict there will be some fluctuation tilted against the less mobile-friendly sites and towards those with strong mobile marks.

The change has been in the offing for almost a year and now it’s only a month away. If you feel like you’re in need of a crash course or just a review, here are some materials to explain what Google’s doing and what you need to consider in response.

Not Sure Where You Stand on Mobile Friendliness?

Essent is offering free mobile assessments*. We'll let you know where you stand on mobile-friendliness and your readiness for Google's switch to mobile-first indexing, whether you use an Essent SiteBuilder website or not.

How Mobile-First Indexing Impacts You

If there are significant differences between your mobile and desktop websites, March 2021 is likely to bring about some fluctuations in your search rank. They may not be favorable changes if your mobile site isn’t as strong or fully developed as your desktop site.

This overview article provides the lay of the land, an outlook on which sites are likely to be most affected, and some questions you can ask to assess your own mobile-readliness.

Do You Have a Mobile-Friendly Content Management System?

The web Content Management System (CMS) clearly should support mobile-friendly websites but also mobile-friendly websites that are easy to create and maintain: avoiding the unneeded work and re-work of making a mobile as robust as desktop; avoiding the re-coding of portions or duplicating of steps to make mobile and desktop "match;” and handling deeper technological infrastructure like structured data and metadata without the website creator having to worry about it.

This article explains how a mobile-friendly CMS eases the transition to mobile-first content.

The Best Approach to Creating a Mobile-Friendly Website

There are a number of ways to provide a mobile-friendly website. One is to use a mobile site and a desktop site as two different sites. Another is providing a single responsive site that adjusts to the screen size that it’s on.

We consider the single responsive site to be the superior option for providing a mobile-friendly web presence.

*Free assessment is for qualified parties only. Limit one per company and/or domain registrant. No warranty either expressed or implied. Offer subject to change or end without notice. No cash value. May not be combined with other offers. Void where prohibited by law. Terms and conditions apply.