What You Need to Know about Google Mobile First Indexing

Google Mobile First Indexing

Mobile first indexing is a big step in Google giving mobile responsive websites higher priority in search results. But how does this really affect local businesses?

As you know, Google uses a lot of factors when determining the order of its search results. Google has also hinted for a long time that mobile-friendliness is one of the factors that it uses. But now, it’s official … Google itself just said that it’s “begun experiments to make our index mobile-first.”

It makes sense since most Google searches are now done from a mobile device rather than a desktop or laptop. You can read more about this change to mobile first indexing on the official Google Webmaster’s blog.

What You Should Do About Mobile First Indexing

Hopefully your website is already mobile responsive … if it is, you shouldn’t need to do anything at all. A mobile responsive site automatically adjusts its size and layout to adapt to any size screen whether desktop / laptop, tablet, or any size mobile phone.

Not sure if your site is mobile responsive? The simple way is to just look at your site on a variety of devices and see if it automatically adapts and looks great. You can also use a site like MobileTest.me to look at your site on a variety of devices … or use Google’s own Mobile-Friendly Test tool.

If you have two separate sites … a mobile site and a desktop site … then you have some work in front of you. Google’s blog gives some tips on what you can do, but honestly, it’s my opinion that you should relaunch your site to be mobile-responsive. And if you don’t have a mobile-friendly site at all, then you definitely need to relaunch with a mobile-responsive site.

Most WordPress themes are now mobile responsive, and you can create mobile responsive sites on Squarespace, Weebly, Google Sites, and even Shopify. (NOTE: Wix is just now moving into mobile responsive sites) Most other website providers should also offer mobile responsive options. Check with your specific web developer or service provider to see how to make your site mobile responsive.

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Eric Shanfelt
Eric is the Founder and CEO of Local Marketing Institute. He has 25 years of experience in digital marketing and has been the Chief Digital Officer for several B2B and consumer media companies. Eric has a passion for local businesses and focuses on practical digital strategies to help them attract more customers, build customer loyalty, and grow their business.