Why Your Mobile Web Site is Now Even More Important to Google

Google has recently stated that they are now ranking your web site based on its mobile version, not its desktop version. Here is the official statement from Google about mobile-first indexing:

“Although our search index will continue to be a single index of websites and apps, our algorithms will eventually primarily use the mobile version of a site’s content to rank pages from that site, to understand structured data, and to show snippets from those pages in our results. Of course, while our index will be built from mobile documents, we’re going to continue to build a great search experience for all users, whether they come from mobile or desktop devices.” Details here …

Desktop Web Site

If you have both a desktop version and mobile version of your web site, then you will need to make sure your mobile version is complete and fully optimized with all of the important SEO (search engine optimization elements).

Responsive Web Site

If you have a "responsive" web site (one web site that automatically adjusts to the device that is viewing it, be it a desktop, tablet, or smart phone), then you shouldn’t need to make any adjustments to your site. Google defines Responsive web design (RWD) as “a setup where the server always sends the same HTML code to all devices and CSS is used to alter the rendering of the page on the device.” Google says its algorithms should be able to automatically detect this setup if all Googlebot user agents are allowed to crawl the page and its assets (CSS, JavaScript, and images).

How Many People are Surfing the Web Using a Mobile Device?

The statistics show that 80% of internet users own a smart phone. The data also shows that the majority of consumers are “multiscreening” — accessing sites on mobile or desktop. Details on web stats here …

Mobile overtook desktop computers as people’s preferred device to access the internet last year, and that trend is forecast to jump by 28 percent this year, (according to Zenith’s Media Consumption Forecasts). Approximately seventy percent of internet use is now on a mobile, and the use of a desktop for internet will fall by almost 16 percent, this year.” Read more …

These stats mean your site needs to be consistently viewable and functional on all devices, as well as fully indexed by Google and other search engines.

Updating Your Site

If your site needs to be redesigned as a responsive web site or if your existing mobile site needs further optimization to ensure it’s being properly viewed and indexed by Google, contact Fusion Creations Inc. in Calgary for a free consultation.