Mobile-First Index is coming fast. Originally, it was supposed to start operating this year, but ultimately, according to Google's lates...
Mobile-First Index is coming fast. Originally, it was supposed to start operating this year, but ultimately, according to Google's latest announcements, it will probably appear in early 2021. How will the mobile index function, what changes can we expect and how to prepare for the next stage of the mobile revolution - we try to answer these and other questions in the text.
Mobilegeddon
The new mobile website index is the next stage on the road to the mobile revolution. Even if Google had such an intention for a long time, the breakthrough moment in this regard was probably 2020, when for the first time more website views were generated globally by mobile devices (51.3 percent) than desktops and laptops (48.7 percent). Mountain View engineers realize that mobile Internet is the future. They are aware that the current way of indexing pages is not able to meet the new challenges. Hence the plan to create a new, separate from the stationary, index of websites. According to the latest Google announcements, the first changes in this regard can be expected at the beginning of 2021. However, as stated, the first version of the new algorithm will not hurt websites not adapted to mobile devices. The changes are to be introduced in stages, all in order not to cause a lot of confusion and fluctuations in positions at the beginning of the entire operation. Gary IIIyes (Webmaster Trends Analyst at Google) announced at the SMX Advanced conference that the complete implementation of the new index may take up to 5 years.
Mobile-First Index
The introduction of a standalone mobile directory is another big change, if not one of the biggest in recent years, in the way websites rank in search results. Regardless of the search method (smartphone or desktop), priority will be given to websites optimized for mobile devices, both mobile versions and responsive websites (automatically adjusting to the size and resolution of the devices on which it will be displayed). At the same time, Google announces that high-quality content on desktop pages will continue to be important for the position in search results. Of course, unless the search engine finds a better answer to a user's query on one of the mobile pages. These will be analyzed by the algorithm first. If so,
How to Prepare
The new mobile index of websites is a real revolution in indexing and positioning. Upon its introduction, Google will evaluate the value of the page for a given query on the basis of the content visible on the mobile page. The best solution is to create a website according to the principles of responsive web design(webmasters can find exact guidelines for creating these types of websites on the Google blog). Then the crawler, regardless of the device, will see the same content. This will not have a negative impact on mobile ranking. Of course, companies that switched to a responsive template during the last relaunch of their website are in a better situation. These can rest easy, probably their position in the ranking will remain unchanged (as long as it does not increase as a result of eliminating the competition that slept through the mobile revolution). However, a few years ago, at the beginning of the mobile revolution (in November 2020, Google started displaying the "mobile-friendly" label on websites adapted to mobile devices, which it finally gave up in 2020)) chose a different path and created mobile equivalents of their websites.
Today, although an acceptable option, it is somewhat archaic. It has more disadvantages than advantages. Having one website at one URL, as most experts point out, is a better option for both web users and administrators. It seems like it's only a matter of time before Google announces that the only acceptable page format in the mobile index is the responsive template. SEO specialists indicate that similar methods of positioning pages will apply in the mobile world. Similar, but not identical. Contrary to the promotion of websites in a desktop search engine, there will be no penalties for hidden content in the mobile world. Simply put, the algorithm will treat the content shared on additional tabs and folders as the content present on the website.
Summary
Currently, creating websites not adapted to mobile devices is a lost investment. Despite the fact that the introduction of the mobile index is slightly delayed, it cannot be hoped that Google will give up this solution. The lack of a responsive website is not only the resignation from a large group of Internet users - potential customers but also a sign of blindness to what is happening in the virtual world.
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