Back in April 2015, the SEO community panickily welcomed Mobilegeddon update, and Google made it pretty clear that it\u2019s taking the experience of mobile users very seriously. And rightly so!<\/p>\n
Almost a year and a half later, mobile internet usage surpassed desktop usage for the very first time. The world formally entered its ‘mobile-first’ age, and all eyes of SEOs were back on Google. The search engine didn\u2019t disappoint. After many months of testing, in March of 2018, it officially rolled out its “mobile-first indexing”.<\/p>\n
Okay, enough of the storytelling now. Let\u2019s get straight to the point.<\/em><\/p>\n Search results vary on desktop and mobile even when using the same queries.<\/p>\n Earlier, Google used desktop\u2019s version of a website to rank them on handheld devices. Meaning, they prioritized how your website looks and functions on desktop more than its mobile version even when ranking it for mobile users.<\/p>\n The mobile-first indexing is a radical turn to this way of ranking. The update is meant to consider the “mobile first” experience of a website foremost to rank it on SERP across devices.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s how Google describes it: “Mobile-first indexing means that we’ll use the mobile version of the page for indexing and ranking, to better help our – primarily mobile – users find what they’re looking for.”<\/p>\n Now note:<\/p>\n (i)<\/strong> There are NO two separate indexes for desktop and mobile.<\/p>\n (ii)<\/strong> Mobile version of your website will be primarily used for indexing and ranking on mobile and desktop.<\/p>\n (iii)<\/strong> The desktop version of your website will not be ignored; remember it\u2019s “mobile-first” and NOT “mobile-only”.<\/p>\n (iv)<\/strong> Even if it doesn\u2019t have a mobile version or good mobile-compatibility, your website will rank on SERP (albeit poorly)<\/p>\n Now, this update may not necessarily have been the good news for many webmasters who rely on \u2018spray and pray\u2019 methods. However, for few SEO professionals, who have long been focusing on the mobile traffic just as much, it was all reveling.<\/p>\n Here, at Kreative Machinez<\/strong>, a recognized digital marketing company in Kolkata<\/strong><\/a><\/span>, we believe that business owners, with smart measures, can easily leverage on mobile-first indexing to further optimize the website to generate higher organic traffic.<\/p>\n How?<\/em><\/p>\n Here are 5 tips to benefit from Google\u2019s mobile-first index:<\/p>\n The first step towards improvement is knowing exactly where you are now. Is your website responsive and mobile-friendly? It\u2019s a base level of being in the good books of Google following this critical update. Google has a nice tool to check this: Mobile-friendly test.<\/p>\n If the website is mobile-friendly, good enough. If not, contact a good digital marketing company in Bangalore to discuss how to move about from here with this situation without hurting your current rankings on SERP.<\/p>\n Next up, use Google\u2019s PageSpeed Insights to see how optimized your website is for the mobile users. The website will be scored out of 100. Also, the result will return back with several recommendations. Implement them. It\u2019s best if you\u2019ve got a qualified web developer by your side.<\/p>\n A one-second delay in the loading time of a page can result in 11 percent page views. And 53 percent of people will leave a mobile page if it takes longer to load.<\/p>\n Google recommends you speed up your website as much as possible. However, the threshold level is 3 seconds. That\u2019s how fast your landing pages must load.<\/p>\n While there hasn\u2019t been anything explicitly mentioned about how your website speed will play a role following the mobile-first indexing, one can assume it\u2019s going to have enough impact at least indirectly.<\/p>\n When a mobile landing page loads slow, the bounce rate and pogo-sticking will be high. In an age of Google RankBrain, these are two important components to identify good (or bad) UX. And when UX is bad for mobile users, the website is more likely to take a hit on search ranking.<\/p>\n So, even when the mobile-first update might not necessarily directly incorporate website\u2019s speed in its ranking factor, the loading time will, in one way or another, come to play a critical role over the course.<\/p>\n Check your website speed and make the necessary improvements.<\/p>\n Taking forth the above theory of high bounce rate means poorer UX, which can hurt your search ranking, one cannot go about without mentioning readability.<\/p>\n Readability is still one of the most overlooked aspects of the website. You can create all the right contents but if the texts aren\u2019t readable enough, what good those good contents do?!<\/p>\n So, check how easily the texts and other forms of contents on your website can be consumed. What\u2019s the font size, family and weight, what\u2019s the line-height and letter spacing. Looking at these small details can ensure the contents are easily consumable. And if it\u2019s quality content, fixing these details can play a significant role in boosting your website\u2019s dwell time and reduce bounce rate.<\/p>\n Getting these metrics in green would mean the website is delivering good UX to the mobile users, which would then positively affect its search ranking on handheld devices as well as desktop.<\/p>\n Visit www.facebook.com and m.facebook.com. You will notice how different these two versions are. The mobile version, in the name of being lightweight, is poor with much less contents.<\/p>\n So many organizations take the same approach. They have a separate version of the mobile website that hides a large part of important components. If that\u2019s you, you might want to change that. Make sure the primary contents on the mobile version is exactly the same (in quantity and quality) as the desktop versions of the website.<\/p>\n Don\u2019t hide important features and information, like an \u2018About Us\u2019 in the footer using responsive CSS tags, just to shorten the length of the page and make it lightweight.<\/p>\n You need a top digital marketing company in Mumbai by your side, who has a good team of developers, to help you at the backend. While there isn\u2019t much needed here, there are still a few things that need to be looked after:<\/p>\n These are few changes and improvements you need to make at the backend of your website.<\/p>\n The aforementioned are the 5 tips that you can use to benefit from the mobile-first indexing update irrespective of whether you have two versions of the website or just one. At this moment, it\u2019s really early to comment on what will work and what won\u2019t work given the lack of relevant data.<\/p>\n However, this algorithm update from Google is a leap step towards shaping internet into mobile devices, going away from the desktops. So, it\u2019s important that hand-in-hand with a reputed digital marketing company in Delhi<\/strong><\/a><\/span>, you tread the water carefully. After all, we\u2019ve seen in the past how one of such Google\u2019s algorithm updates can literally finish businesses online.<\/p>\n Up until a couple of years back, so many webmasters didn\u2019t care about mobile users and their experience. While some outright ignored this emerging trend, there were many others who thought that since they get more desktop users, optimizing the website for mobile users would make less sense.<\/p>\n But today, following the mobile-indexing update, even if your website doesn\u2019t get many visitors from handheld devices, it\u2019s imperative that you obsessively care about the mobile users. Because your mobile game holds the rope of your SEO. Leave it loose and your website will be found lost in the crowd of millions of competitors on SERP. Be careful and smart, it would steer not just your mobile ranking but also, at times, the desktop\u2019s.<\/p>\n We, here at Kreative Machinez, has been one of the early adopters on the scene, incorporating mobile experience in our web development and SEO strategies in a big way. And this has been a key reason why we\u2019re now recognized as a leading digital marketing company in Kolkata<\/strong> with a presence in top-tier cities like Bangalore<\/strong><\/a><\/span>, Mumbai<\/strong><\/a><\/span>, Gurgaon<\/strong><\/a><\/span> and Delhi<\/strong>, touting a client base spread across the world in countries like the USA<\/strong>, Canada<\/strong>, and Australia<\/strong>.<\/p>\n On the back of our qualified and diversified team, we mechanize advance UX and marketing strategies that, in sync with the latest trends and search engine updates, ensure to keep you ahead of your competitors.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re looking to leverage on the countless opportunities that Google\u2019s mobile-first indexing has brought, get in touch with us. Not sure how this update has hit your website? We also provide FREE website analysis<\/strong><\/span>. Let us assist you to stay ahead in this ever-changing digital world.<\/p>\n Direction:-\u00a0https:\/\/goo.gl\/maps\/iQNGWa4K2Rr<\/a><\/p>\nWhat is Google\u2019s Mobile-First Index?<\/h2>\n
Understand where you are right now<\/h3>\n
How quick is your website?<\/h3>\n
Make the fonts readable<\/h3>\n
Are mobile and desktop versions same?<\/h3>\n
Fix things in the backend<\/h3>\n
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Conclusion<\/h2>\n