Mobile Version First

Your website must become mobile !

Categories: Search engine optimization (SEO), Webdesign & Website creation Tags: Be found better, Better placement, Google, Homepage creation, Search engine optimization, SEO, Webdesign, Webpage creation

On November 4, 2016, Google announced that it would introduce a Mobile First Index at the end of 2017. Mobile first means that Google will organize its search results based on mobile website versions. This also means that in the future the desktop versions of a website will only be taken into account during indexing if no mobile version is available.

Web pages created only for desktops will therefore probably be left behind in the ranking of organic search results in the future and will lose places compared to mobile websites.

Why does Google make the mobile index the main index?
The reason for the preference for the mobile index is that desktop search has already been overtaken by mobile search in the USA and 10 other countries in 2015. In Germany this was the case in 2016. As the mobile search is continuously gaining in importance, Google has decided to put the indexing of websites on a new basis. According to Google, it always strives to offer the users of the search engine an optimal user experience. Therefore, the prioritization of the mobile index is certainly essentially to optimize user experience (UX). However, the user experience mainly refers to the users of smartphones. For Google, a mobile device is synonymous with a smartphone.

What impact does the Mobile First Index have on search engine optimization?
According to Google, no search engine optimization measures are required for websites created with a responsive design. However, it is at least advisable to check whether a website can be recognized as "mobile friendly" by Google and whether the pages are error-free in terms of user friendliness according to the specifications of the Google Search Console. An important point is the verification of loading times of a website, not only since the announcement of Mobil first. Especially in view of Google's announcement to include PageSpeed as a ranking factor from June 2018, a review of the loading speed is generally recommended.

For further interesting information, visit the Search Engine Optimization (SEO) guide. SEO guide