How to Know If You’re at Risk When Google Switches to a Mobile-First Index (Flowchart)

Awesome article! It provides valuable insights into the mobile-first index and emphasizes the significance of having a speedy mobile website. The section on comparing mobile rankings to desktop rankings in Google Search Console is particularly helpful. Understanding the differences between the two can greatly impact our SEO strategy and overall website performance. Thank you for sharing this informative content that highlights the importance of optimizing for mobile devices.

Amazing post. Indeed if your website is not SEO friendly then you’re at high risk. Keep sharing such amazing content

good information

The flow chart has lots of information on optimization. If your website is based on only content then AMP is the best option but if your website is an e-commerce business then AMP is not.

According to a new Google update, Google introduces Web Stories for mobile users. So as an advice, you all need to analyze the business model and implement the best way for SEO.

Mobile-first indexing means Google predominantly uses the mobile version of the content for indexing and ranking. Historically, the index primarily used the desktop version of a page’s content when evaluating the relevance of a page to a user’s query.

Hii. Thanks for sharing info. I was wondering, is SEO in mobile different than in desktop?

This article has served its purpose and put me on the road to not only making my site responsive but also making it more mobile-friendly. Thanks for sharing such information with us.

In Google Analytics I guess

Hey Bruce Clay,
Good information on Google Switches to a Mobile-First Index.
The mobile users are very important in Digital Marketing.
Thanks Bruce :-)

How i can track mobile users?

Alex

Excellent article. Thanks for sharing with us this great information. I had no idea about that the SEO techniques are different in the mobile device. It will be really helpful.

Thank you so much for educating us, I have bookmarked this page for future references. Can you tell me more about Ahref?

This is a really useful flowchart, thanks guys. It seems I’ve got some work to do before the mobile-first indexation hits though :(

Excellent post… AMP pages will also be a good ranking factor in a near future.

Great post! Good information on the mobile-first index and the importance of a fast mobile version of your website. Very helpful about comparing mobile rankings vs desktop rankings in Google Search Console.

Great advice. Currently it looks like at least our own site mobile is ahead of desktop so it seems there isn’t risk. Definitely need to audit a ton of clients now though!

Hi Bruce. Thanks for the article. I was wondering, is SEO in mobile different than in desktop?

AMP pages are very important nowadays and Google gives higher priority to AMP rather than Non-AMP version.

I guess all the webmasters should use AMP version for their blogs because 80% traffic is from Mobile devices nowadays.

In my opinion, this is logical. More and more people use mobile phones and tablet more often than laptops. Consequently, Google cares about the comfort of its users and want to provide everybody with the ease of use. I totally accept this innovation.

Very helpful Article. Good tips shared and very useful for further mobile migration.

Mobile stuff is very much important while indexing our URL in Google. How the AMP working for this can you please explain?

Thanks for sharing this chart, this is a great checklist! While more and more searches are made from mobiles, Google’s step will improve users experience. However, for us SEOs, there are many elements to address for our clients in the short term, as when looking at past major releases, I believe Google will probably not wait as long as we think to switch!

With PPC, you effectually skip over the middle circle which cost you. By avoiding your prospects’ inboxes, you’re only competing with marketers on a SERP, a pertinent website on the GDN, or Facebook / Instagram. You’re also getting a leg up on your contestants, who are probably only using an automatic email funnel to nurture prospects (if they’re doing it at all).

Hi Bruce,

Just checked in Search Console after reading your post & found that mobile site is ranking 5.9 . However, my desktop site is ranking 9.8.
Does it mean that my desktop site needs to change?

Well explained in a step by step! I liked the flow-chart that included here! Keep it up!

Great article! Mobile is clearly taking over desktop traffic these days. We do see quite a few websites that pass the initial mobile test, but their load times are a bit slower. We always recommend further optimization.

This article has served its purpose and put me on the road to not only making my site responsive but also making it more mobile friendly. I particularly found the infographic helpful.

@ Jasa -do you use Google Search Console?
On the Search Analytics option, you can;
a) select to compare Mob vs Desktop
b) select to view Position

This will allow you to see (roughly) what sort of ranking your pages have for the different searcher types.
What Bruce is suggesting is that if the mobile data points to you ranking lower than desktop, then your site/pages may not be that mobile friendly, which will be a problem in a mobile-first index.

Hi Bruce, you said “If your average mobile rankings are worse than your average desktop rankings, you’re at risk when the mobile-first index switch occurs”, so it means average mobile rankings LOWER than average desktop rankings? how do you define “worse”?

I must be say it really very useful and helpful for on the further mobile migration.

As we all know that the next future will be about the mobile future so, each and every work will be perform on the future. So it this given detail is very new and usefull for me to add more knowledge into my ideas.

Hey Mate,

You have to keep in mind that you may have already pushed some traffic away if your site isn’t mobile-friendly, but you should still see a strong indicator of whether your site has a mobile audience (some sites still don’t really).

Great Post Bruce, I always make sure that my websites are well optimized for mobile, because not only that i get the most traffic from but also since Google has been penalizing websites with bad mobile user experience. I wish many people would listen and start paying attention to mobile first, because i think that’s the future.

I’ve been telling my clients for weeks that they need to think about mobile versions of their websites. Many of them think that this is just some kind of trend and it won’t last. That’s especially weird when they have totally local business.

Good information on the future mobile migration. I’m sure all of the proactive sites have or doing it as we speak. Should be interesting how the algorithm shifts with it.

The mobile users are very important in Digital Marketing. Now I am getting the best view by reading your article. To track mobile users where should we go?

May want to redo the inforgraphic … I had to double check and see if “implementatior” was a word :D
(1: no, 2: yes // 3rd teal Q block // 3rd of 3rd row etc.)

–

Not sure about the UX for Conversions.
It’s important from a business perspective (nice to see it covered!), but I don’t know if it’s a ranking factor.
On the other hand, there’s a few optimisations missing, such as;
* UI (widths, font/input sizing etc.)
* Pre-fetching
* Top-loading (above the fold loading before below)

–

I love the fact that you have caveat-ed several times,
and attempted to make it abundantly clear that Desktop isn’t being ditched etc. – good job!

For those wondering how important mobile is for them/their business,
look through your tracking/stats. Most analysis platforms permit segregation by device – so use it and compare.
Specifically, look at things like Bounce Rate, Time on page/site, average page views, return rate etc.
You have to keep in mind that you may have already pushed some traffic away if your site isn’t mobile-friendly, but you should still see a strong indicator of whether your site has a mobile audience (some sites still don’t really).

This doesn’t mean you don’t have to implement a mobile push!
Even if you’ve only got 3% of visitors using such devices – you should still pay attention. G have been moving towards mobile for years and years, it’s not going to go away.
It just means that some of you don’t have to rush as much as many others (and it is going to be “many” – in most cases I’m seeing 20%+ mobile/tablet users – that’s a huge share and potential earning loss!).

This is naturally a high level. The next level might include: AMP,
Deep Linking and App’s.

Good tip about assessing device position on SC. Thanks Bruce :-)