Google announced that developers will have a little extra time to adapt the sites for the Mobile First Index. The new deadline is March 2021, a stretch of more than 6 months compared to September 2020, which was the previous deadline.
The justification is to help those who needed – and still need – to focus their efforts on other tasks because of the Covid-19 pandemic. The “first indexing of the mobile version” started in 2016 and preparing your site for it is essential in SEO.
In March of this year, Google estimated that 70% of internet sites were already having their mobile versions indexed first. This number has probably already grown, since since mid-2019 all new pages are indexed like this.
If you're not sure that your site is already on that team, just go to Google Search Console to check it out. And if your website is not yet mobile friendly or responsive in design, do not relax with the postponement, as this should have been done a long time ago.
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Google Mobile First Index: delayed, but hurry!
To put it bluntly: if the site only has a desktop version, in September 2020 March 2021 it will stop appearing on Google. That simple. At this point in the championship, however, I believe that this should not be your reality, right?
Here on the RD blog, for example, we talked about this for many years. In a 2017 post on website speed we already mentioned the topic. Then, in 2018, we dissected AMPs, or Accelerated Mobile Pages, from Google . Most importantly, in 2018, we published a full article on, you guessed it, Google Mobile First Index !
In summary, therefore, today the sites that do not have a mobile version, only the desktop, still rank. If they are not mobile friendly, however, they already perform poorly on the Google results page.
Always remember: the search giant (and other things) favors the user experience by providing you with answers to your research. In 2019, more than 60% of them are made on cell phones, a percentage that will only increase in the coming years.
In other words: without a cell phone, your website will plummet.
Am I ready for the Google Mobile First Index?
Okay, so you already have a mobile version for your company page. I knew I could trust you! Still, it is worth checking if she is fully prepared for the visits of the Google robots. And the person who helps you get deeper into this is the Mountain View guys.
In the post that announced the postponement , there is a list of technical details that are not too complicated for you to give checks or make an X. They are the following:
- Use the same robot meta tags as the desktop version;
- Correct lazy loading content;
- Take care of the resources you block, such as files and images;
- Use the same main content, the one you want to rank, from the desktop;
- Check images and videos – quality, alt texts, URLs and placement.
Google has a comprehensive guide with everything you need to know to update your site to the Mobile First Index. It brings everything you need to put in place to avoid the risk of disappearing from the results pages in March 2021.
However, it is worth reinforcing: be sure to do it in the nick of time, think as if it would still be valid for 2020.
Meanwhile, delve into SEO
As we have already said, the first indexing of the mobile version has already been inserted in the best SEO practices for years. If you still don't have a lot of knowledge about Search Engine Optimization, or Search Engine Optimization, know that it is a very important discipline of working with Digital Marketing.
Here at RD, for example, we have a team dedicated to this, finding opportunities to optimize content to rank better on Google. The best way to do this is to deliver quality texts, rich materials and videos that help solve the problems of those who access them.
To learn more about this and start working on your content in this sense, access our Complete SEO Guide, which is already in its 4th edition. Just fill out the form below to receive it for free!
Complete SEO Guide – 4th Edition
Everything for your business to receive many more visits organically, without investing in paid media!
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- SEO (Search Engine Optimization)