Understanding Mobile-First Indexing & How to Optimize Your Website
More than 50 percent of all web traffic now comes from mobile devices. Mobile-first indexing refers to the fact that Google and other search engines such as Bing initially index the mobile versions of sites before they check the desktop ones. The reverse was true for many years, which means many site administrators have gotten caught by surprise.
Unless you have a very basic site built around only traditional HTML tags, you’ll want to be certain users have immediate access to a high-quality mobile rendition that renders quickly. All major search engines take rendering speed into account, so hiring a premier San Diego SEO company to optimize your code may be even more important than working on the site itself.
Nevertheless, content is still king, so you should:
- Provide readers with fresh material, as search engines consider post dates when indexing sites
- Strip out extraneous keywords, since these can actually hurt rankings today
- Replace machine-generated material with real writing
- Always use responsive design on every page
- Only launch necessary style sheets when loading a page
Focus on serving users the essentials without any extras unless they ask for them. This should send the number of HTTP requests plummeting, which is vital if you plan on reducing load times. Google has become something of a stickler when it comes to mobile loading times in recent months, so it’s important to pay close attention to the number of requests made when someone loads your site for the first time.
Add a bar to the top or bottom of each page on your site that offers links back home as well as to the about section or a contact form. These might actually prove more important than other types of backlinks as the major search engines move closer to a completely mobile-first indexing paradigm.
Mobile-first indexing isn’t the only factor that matters to rank a website on Google. If you need help with PPC campaigns, website development, or mobile SEO, contact Saba SEO, a reliable web design company in San Diego. To speak at length with one of our marketing experts, give Saba SEO a call today.