{"id":25538,"date":"2024-09-23T02:56:37","date_gmt":"2024-09-22T16:56:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/digitalnomadshq.com.au\/?post_type=glossary&#038;p=25538"},"modified":"2025-12-22T16:35:56","modified_gmt":"2025-12-22T06:35:56","slug":"mobile-first-indexing","status":"publish","type":"glossary","link":"https:\/\/digitalnomadshq.com.au\/glossary\/mobile-first-indexing\/","title":{"rendered":"Mobile-First Indexing"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What Is Mobile-First Indexing?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Mobile-first indexing means Google primarily uses a website\u2019s mobile version for crawling, indexing, and ranking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Before 2020, Google mainly crawled websites&#8217; desktop versions &#8211; However, with the increased use of mobile devices (like smartphones and tablets) for online searches, Google shifted to prioritise the mobile version using the smartphone user agent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In 2019, Google announced that mobile-first indexing would apply to websites launched after July 1 of that year, impacting new or previously unknown sites. By March 2020, Google reported that around 70% of websites had transitioned to mobile-first indexing, with plans to complete the switch by March 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As of February 2023, some websites still needed to be transitioned from desktop-first to mobile-first indexing. It\u2019s worth noting that it isn&#8217;t mandatory for your site to have a mobile version appear in the Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs). If no mobile version exists, Google will index the desktop version. However, a mobile-friendly website is strongly recommended as Google prioritises mobile-first indexing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Importance of Mobile-First Indexing<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Mobile-first indexing is important for SEO as it encourages webmasters to develop mobile-friendly websites &#8211; Of course, Google aims to ensure users have the best possible experience when accessing search results on their mobile devices. Research shows that around 65% of searches are now conducted on mobile devices, which shows the increasing importance of optimising for mobile users.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:28px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Mobile-First Indexing Best Practices<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As mentioned, understanding the importance of mobile-first indexing for search engine optimisation (SEO) and providing an excellent user experience is essential for any website&#8217;s success. Your website must be mobile-friendly to align with mobile-first indexing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Here are some key points to keep in mind:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Ensure <a href=\"https:\/\/digitalnomadshq.com.au\/glossary\/googlebot\/\">Googlebot<\/a> can access the content and resources on your mobile pages. Use the same robots meta tags for both your desktop and mobile versions.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Make sure your primary content is identical on both the desktop and mobile sites; serving less content on mobile can reduce traffic.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>If you\u2019re using structured data, include it on both versions. Also, use the correct URLs in the mobile version\u2019s structured data.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Ensure <a href=\"https:\/\/digitalnomadshq.com.au\/glossary\/meta-tags\/\">meta tags<\/a>, such as title tags and meta descriptions, are the same across both desktop and mobile versions.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Whenever possible, use responsive design.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Regularly review the &#8216;Mobile Usability&#8217; report in Google Search Console.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Provide mobile-friendly navigation.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":true,"content-type":""},"class_list":["post-25538","glossary","type-glossary","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitalnomadshq.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/glossary\/25538","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitalnomadshq.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/glossary"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitalnomadshq.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/glossary"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitalnomadshq.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25538"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}