Google is always changing and updating its algorithms in a bid to
deliver the best and most relevant results for searches on it’s platform. With
so many people conducting searches via a mobile device these days, Google is on
the verge of introducing its Mobile-First algorithm.
But
what is Mobile-First and are you ready for it?
Google’s Mobile-First Index Explained
Mobile-First
is a new search index Google will
likely be introducing and rolling out sometime in 2018. According to a variety
of recent studies, some 60% of the global population now accesses the internet
from a mobile device rather than a desktop or laptop computer.
Until
now search algorithms have basically targeted websites designed to be viewed on
a desktop environment. Because so many people are now using mobile devices with
much smaller screens, and often viewed in portrait mode rather than landscape,
Google has seen the need to favor websites in their search results that are
“mobile-friendly”.
Google
wants to deliver results that give mobile users the best user experience
possible. Therefore websites that are designed for mobile, or are responsive in
nature, will have preference in Google searches once Mobile-First is
introduced.
How To Prepare for the
Mobile-First Roll Out
The
very first thing to consider is whether your website is in fact
mobile-friendly. If it’s not, then it should be regardless of whether Google
wants to introduce the Mobile-First algo or not. With so many people accessing
the internet on smaller mobile devices, if your site doesn’t display the text and
images properly, people will simply leave and go elsewhere.
A
website needs a “responsive” design. Basically this just means that the design
of the website’s layout is flexible and not rigid, so when someone views your
content on a mobile device, they will still be presented with the exact same
content they would see if viewing the page on a computer. The layout will
change due to the size and orientation of the screen, but all content will be
visible.
Websites
that lose portions of their content when viewed on mobile devices will be
penalised under Google’s new Mobile-First index.
Even
if you have a responsive design, you still want to make certain all your
content and navigation looks good on all devices – from desktop, to tablet, to
smartphone. You might find that heading sizes, menus and so forth get scrambled
when viewed on a smaller screen and adjustments will need to be made to correct
these idiosyncrasies for a better user experience.
Another
point to consider is not to use a “Read More” button to hide longer content.
This hidden content will be completely ignored by Google once the Mobile-First
index is rolled out. If you have any text or content hidden behind a button or
menu tab, then reveal it so all content is visible. Failure to do so could lead
to a drop in rankings, or not being ranked at all when the new index is introduced.
These
days all websites should be mobile-friendly anyway, so now’s the time to make
sure yours is.
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