Today, more than half of all internet searches worldwide come from a mobile device. When people can access information using their phones, from anywhere, brands need to check their website’s appearance on different devices, each with different capabilities and sizes. Since 2016, Google has prioritized mobile-first indexing, which means how your website runs on a mobile device is more important for your website ranking on search engines. In this blog post, we’ll discuss mobile-first indexing and how you can optimize your website for mobile SEO.
What is mobile-first indexing?
Mobile-first indexing means that Google primarily uses the mobile version of your website to index and rank it in search engine results pages. As more users turn to smartphones and tablets for searches, Google emphasises the mobile version more heavily as a ranking factor.
Do you need a mobile website to rank?
The short answer is yes. As of 5th July 2024, Google will not index and rank a website if it is not mobile-friendly. In simple words, if your website can’t be accessed on mobile phones, Google will not index it. And, if your website is not getting indexed, it will not rank and appear in search engine result pages.
How to optimize for mobile-first indexing?
Here are some methods that can be used by developers to create a mobile-friendly website:
Focus on mobile performance
Here’s what you need to focus on:
- Optimizing core web vitals: You need to focus on Largest Contentful Paint, Interaction to Next Paint (INP), and Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS).
- Use Google’s PageSpeed Insights to address page speed. Load time should be reduced, and it should be under 2.5 seconds.
Maintain content quality
- Don’t hide important information on mobile. All important content should be accessible on mobile devices.
- It’s essential to maintain adequate headings and structured data. This helps search engines understand your content across devices.
- Maintain your website’s link equity by ensuring all essential internal links are available on mobile. This includes content links, navigation links, and footer links.
- Your metadata must be consistent across devices and versions. Meta titles, meta descriptions, and header tags must be consistent on both mobile and desktop versions to maintain ranking signals. You might not be familiar with various terms and techniques used in SEO for top ranking. That’s why many businesses have started turning to our SEO services in Jalandhar, where we offer comprehensive SEO services while paying attention to all factors that can contribute to better ranking.
Technical optimization
Several technical SEO elements must be considered properly:
- Set appropriate viewport settings to ensure your site displays correctly on all screen sizes.
- Confirm that your robots.txt file doesn’t block essential resources required for mobile rendering. Use the URL Inspection tool in Google Search Console to check accessibility.
- Include fluid grids, flexible images, and media queries to create a layout that adapts seamlessly to different devices.
- Make sure canonical tags accurately reference the preferred page versions to prevent duplicate content issues.
User experience consideration
Mobile users have specific needs that should be carefully considered:
- It is crucial to design buttons and links big enough and spaced out so users can tap without frustration. This helps boost engagement, according to Google’s design recommendations.
- Use clear and readable text so it’s easy to read on small screens. Use balanced font sizes throughout your design for a clean and user-friendly layout.
- Leave enough space between buttons and links so people don’t click the wrong thing by mistake.
- Avoid annoying or hard-to-close pop-ups. Stick to Google’s guidelines to avoid SEO penalties while still making your call-to-action clear.
Testing and monitoring
Regular maintenance is crucial for mobile-first indexing success:
- Regular testing can help address possible issues before they affect your website ranking.
- Make sure to track mobile performance in Google Search Console.
- Don’t forget to conduct regular mobile usability audits.
So, these are crucial aspects to keep your website mobile-first indexed. Despite this, if you also want to promote your website through digital marketing, you can contact our Digital Marketing Company in Jalandhar.
Conclusion
SEO comes with various opportunities and challenges, but you don’t need to worry about it. Our Nimble Technocrats Company has SEO specialists who know the ins and outs of SEO and can help you rank your website at the top of search results.
Locate Us: