In September 2020, Google will roll out the mobile-first indexing update. Mobile-first indexing means Google predominantly uses the mobile version of the content of your website for indexing and ranking. Historically, the index primarily used the desktop version of a page’s content. Is your site optimised for mobile-first indexing?
This switch is being made because more and more searches come from a mobile device and to give those users a better experience
If Google indexes the mobile version of your site, you’ll get a notice in your Google Search Console. This means that Google will determine by the content available on your mobile site how you will rank — both on the desktop as well as on mobile. This sounds pretty big, but for most WordPress sites it’ll have minimal consequence.
You do not have to have a mobile site to be in the mobile-first index, as Google will index desktop sites as well. But, it’s going to be harder to rank if your site is not mobile-friendly.
So what do you need to do? Check out Google’s mobile-friendliness test and check whether or not your site is mobile friendly.
A mobile website needs a different design than a desktop version to appeal to your audience.
To attract a mobile audience, you’ll need to have mobile-friendly copy. This means short sentences and compact paragraphs. You need to make sure your font on your mobile site is large and clear enough, and you need to make sure to use enough whitespaces.
Is your audience mainly mobile? Do they come from the mobile search results to your page? Or does most of your organic traffic come from the desktop SERPs? Make sure to check this in your Google Analytics.
Do take some time to evaluate the mobile version of your website. Is your design good enough? Or could you improve? Are the buttons large enough to tap?
So schedule a conversation with one of our experts if you like to find out more or need any assistance.