Mobile-first indexing for dummies
Companies across the globe are scrambling to configure their sites to reflect Google’s transition from desktop to mobile-first indexing. You may be thinking, “I don’t know what mobile-first is let alone why it’s going to ruin my ranking!” To clear up the first question, mobile-first means designing a site with mobile usability in mind before desktop. In the past, Google prioritized the desktop version of its web content because back in the day we weren’t glued to our phones like information-guzzling zombies. With the creation of smart phones that can surpass a desktop’s capabilites, we no longer run to our desktops to ask Google which local business will fit our needs. Instead, we reach into our pocket and simply ask Siri, Cortana or Alexa. With this shift, Google made the announcement in November 2016 that they plan to literally put mobile first (ahem…hence the name).
The result of this announcement is that companies have to not only optimize their site for mobile usage but also make it accessible to Googlebot, Google’s web crawling bot used to discover billions of new and updated pages to be added to their index. If you’re currently ranking lower on Google and don’t change your content and design to fit mobile usability, your name is only going to drop even further down on the list when Google makes the switch. And let’s be honest, who actually looks past the first three search results? No one.
There is both good news and bad news with this announcement. The bad news is that your business absolutely needs to follow this trend and adjust your site accordingly. The good news is that ultimately, this change will improve the experience for users, making it easier for them to find and utilize your services. Even better news is that you don’t have to do this yourself. Our team at The BrandingHouse is highly qualified to optimize your site for mobile indexing. We’ll get your site to the top of Google search results by:
- Improving mobile responsiveness.
- Building a high quality mobile site if you haven’t yet created one and doing mobile site configuration if the content on your site isn’t consistent between mobile and desktop.
- Ensuring that the mobile version of your site is accessible to Googlebot (which is imperative for indexing).
- Applying successful SEO (search engine optimization) to your existing site.
- Running structured data testing to ensure there are no errors.
The sooner you make improvements to your mobile site, the better. If you don’t want to get left in the dust and want to make sure your site can be found online without five minutes of digging, call The BrandingHouse today. We’ll make sure your company is not only at the top of search results but that your mobile design is top of the line.
