With the use of smartphones, the globe has turned digital and people are getting more smarter. In the present scenario, users rely on mobile devices for a majority of their online activities. A recent survey concludes that more than 50% of searches come from mobile devices. A tremendous revolution took place in 2015, a first for the industry, the searches on mobile superseded desktop, which means searches on mobile devices are growing higher and is a sign of the booming mobile user base.
Mobile First Indexing: All You Need To Know
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For such great results, Google is highly responsible. Google constantly makes efforts to keep its search engines updated and provide better mobile experiences for their users that reflects the needs of its users. The most recent change that Google has come up with is the mobile first index.
Google has experimented and released some updates designed to make the web a friendlier place for mobile device users. Now it is rolling out a “mobile-first” version of its index, which could turn the game significantly for webmasters and search engine optimizers.
This new update will divide mobile and desktop results, enabling Google to primarily use the mobile version of a website rather than the desktop version to rank it.
With this significant change comes two important questions that SEO experts have to deal with:
What is the Google mobile-first index?
Google gathers information of every web page in an extensive catalogue, which is known as an index, which is later used to formulate and display search results for different queries. Up until now, Google primarily viewed web pages of desktop user, creating mobile pages as important, but secondary to those desktop pages. Now, Google treats the mobile versions of each page as the primary page to index, with desktop versions being secondary.
Why has Google come up with this new change?
The mobile first index can be seen as a direct response to the way people use Google these days. Users mostly search for results on mobile than desktop, and many times they get sub-optimal results due to obtrusive ads, scaling issues, etc.
Google has also released another user-focused feature Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP), which streamline the kind of sites users encounters to ensure good mobile experiences. Now, with the mobile first index.
How will mobile first index change the future of SEO?
Google is invariably changing things, which makes it more exciting, and sometimes hectic, for the SEO industry.
But when anything like the mobile first index appears, it comes with a potential to make serious waves in the industry, and everyone needs to be prepared for the impact. To deal with the imminent changes that the mobile first index will bring, we must first identify the most likely after effects.
Don’t just walk into Google’s mobile first world blindly. Position your business to benefit the most from it, and you will set yourself up for success.
Heading into the world of Google’s Mobile First World:
Changes are unavoidable in the world of SEO, but you need to have a plan for the mobile first index. To meet the growing changes head-on and secure a successful SEO future for your website, you need to have the right preparations in order:
- Functional desktop and mobile versions
- Structured data
- Strategic title tags
- Fast page speed
- Healthy, natural links
Google has not yet declared when the mobile first index will fully roll out, but this first trial was released few weeks after Google announced the mobile and desktop split.
In all likelihood, Google will continue to tweak it until it is ready, and even then the final version will undergo many changes to refine it and improvise it for users.
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One thing is for sure – the mobile first index will bring notable changes with it. Will you be ready when it arrives?
- Mobile First Indexing-The New Hope and Scope of SEO Services - March 9, 2017