Be prepared for “mobile-first indexing”
Smartphones rule. Websites are accessed more often on smartphones than on computers these days. At Google Analytics ( http://analytics.google.com ) you can check whether this is the case for your own website. Google claims that it rewards mobile-friendly websites with a higher ranking in the search results and this has now been confirmed officially with the introduction of mobile-first indexing ( https://goo.gl/iDoMBT ).
What does this mean? In the past Google determined the relevance of a webpage on the basis of the desktop version, but now it’s the mobile variant that will become the measure for indexing and ranking websites. This means that if your website shows less, or different, content on a mobile device than in the desktop version, or if your site doesn’t offer a good mobile experience, it will be obtain a lower ranking in the search results. Note. “Mobile-first” is not the same as “mobile-only”: if you have a website and the mobile version isn’t performing well, this doesn’t mean that the Google search engine will stop indexing you.
Don’t panic. Google promises that it will alert you via its Search Console ( https://goo.gl/H2VBbt ) as soon as your website is to be subjected to the new “mobile-first indexing”. In the meantime, it’s a good idea to check whether you will have to make any adjustments. Tip.The Mobile-Friendly Test ( http://search.google.com/test/mobile-friendly ) tells you whether adjustments are necessary and provides tips for improvement. For more tips go to Search Engine Journal ( https://goo.gl/pAQQ9s ).
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