Google To Make Mobile Index The Primary Index For Search
Earlier this fall, Google announced it will begin to create a separate mobile index within a few months, that will serve as the primary index that the search engine will use. Put another way, Google will begin to index search results for mobile separately from the desktop so that they can offer mobile users better and fresher content. The standard desktop index that consumers know and have used for years will remain active, but it won’t be as updated nearly as frequently as its mobile counterpart.
So, what’s this mean for online retailers?
If your site is mobile-friendly, your initial instinct might be that Google’s announcement won’t impact your rankings. But you might be wrong.
Generally speaking, the typical mobile website houses significantly less data and fewer features than their desktop versions. In this push to become “mobile-friendly,” webmasters often remove content and structured data from mobile pages to enhance the smartphone experience. But rather than being a mobile-first approach, this strategy is more of a Band-Aid afterthought move.
Google’s Update Is About Making Sure Websites Truly Are Mobile First
A mobile-first web design approach does exactly what its title promises: it builds the website with the mobile user in mind first, rather than building the desktop version and then subtracting elements to accommodate smaller screens.
There are countless reasons why businesses should design their website like this; but with this recent Google announcement, there should be no doubt about it: mobile is where Google intends to take the web.
How can you make sure that your website is following the path that Google is so committed to?
It starts with performing an audit on every version of your website (mobile, desktop, etc.). Make note of any differences you find between each version. If you seem to find very little variations between your sites, then chances are Google’s latest update won’t impact your rankings much. In other words, you’ve done well to create a mobile-first website.
If, however, the content on your mobile pages is not the same as the content on your desktop pages, then you have some work to do. Keep in mind, study after study prove that more and more energized shoppers use mobile devices to browse and convert. That’s why Google’s going to make its mobile search index its primary index, which will benefit from frequent updates. You want to make sure that the mobile version of your pages isn’t cheating your prospective customers out of the full experience.
OperationROI can help. We’ll perform an audit on each version of your website, and provide action-point recommendations to ensure your rankings will improve across each of Google’s search indexes. Contact us today at 1-888-277-5429 or by filling out our contact form to learn more.
To learn more about OperationROI, find us on DesignRush.
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