Google has moved its search results to mobile-first indexing. It’s a logical progression in the development of search when you consider the increasing dominance of mobile search.
Earlier this year, Google announced that searches on mobile devices overtook searches from desktops. Desktops, with their falling sales, will never catch up. However, until now Google’s search algorithms have indexed the web and delivered results based on the desktop version of a website. This has led to mobile users being sent to sites that are not easy to on their devices. With its latest update, the search giant has fixed that.
Search results from Google are now based on the mobile version of a website. If your website isn’t mobile friendly, then you’re dropping further down the rankings. If you have a mobile version of your site but it is a pared back replica of your desktop site, you might need to look at whether it’s now a hindrance.
Already mobile? Time to AMP it up!
For those who have mobile-friendly sites, it’s time to think about AMP – accelerated mobile pages.
Early in the autumn, Google announced that it would be ramping up its AMP programme in the coming weeks. Quoting research that found that 40% of mobile web users abandon a website if it takes more than three seconds to load, they have worked on AMP, an open source initiative to improve the mobile web experience.
Google has promised ‘expanded exposure’ across it mobile search results for those who use AMP.
What to do?
If you’re not sure if your site is mobile-friendly, use this tool to find out. If it isn’t start looking into its replacement. Even a small consulting firm will find that between 15% and 25% of its web traffic is from mobile devices now.
Does your website need AMP? Unless you’re a publisher, it’s not likely at the moment. However, the mobile web is now dominant, so you should be keeping an eye on the growth of AMP.