According to a recent study, it was discovered that 55% of all traffic originates from a mobile device and is likely to grow more. This big trend in user behavior has made Google think and put the focus on the mobile platform, giving rise to Mobile-First Indexing.
So, what is it? Before we take a look at that, let’s see how Google currently rates your websites in their search engine ranking system.
How does Google Currently Rate your Site and How it Will Change?
Well, currently Google provides an index to your site based on your site’s desktop experience. However, with mobile-first indexing, Google will begin to account the mobile experience and rank your site based on its mobile-friendly experience. So, if your site does not have a mobile-friendly version, it can negatively impact on your rankings as opposed to others with a better mobile experience.
The phrase mobile-first will put mobile as the primary version of the website rather than the desktop. This change will greatly affect your SEO strategy as you may have to focus more on your mobile content now. Stay updated with all the trends with the help of online digital marketing courses and tweak your SEO strategy to deliver desired results.
What Should you Do?
First thing is no need to panic! This change is still in its inception and will be rolled out gradually. According to Google, if your website incorporates a responsive design or looks identical in its desktop and mobile versions, you may not have to do take any drastic steps. However, you should ensure that the ‘mobile page load’ time, images, content and other dynamic elements are optimized for a good mobile experience.
Here are three things that you can do to improve your SEO rankings and buck up for the mobile-first index:
- Responsive Design
Your sites should be responsive based on the needs of the user and the device they are viewing it. It’s a good idea to test your site from different devices and browsers to ensure that your content renders properly. This is sure to give you an upper hand in search engine rankings once the change is rolled out.
- Use a mobile-optimized website builder
If you are an SEO practitioner, take that extra step today and make sure your website is optimized for mobile. Not just the content, the speed of ‘load times’ also matters. A faster website encourages more visitors, conversions, engagement and lower bounce rate.
- Mobile-optimized Content
Remember that mobile users have a short attention span, so engage them with valuable content to grab all their attention. Shorter headlines, high-quality images, videos, memes and more can be used.
The best courses in digital marketing will help you prepare for this big change from Google. Stay on top of it and make the most of your SEO performance.