They started experimenting with it two years ago, and it didn't go well at all. Currently, they've moved a small number of sites into a mobile-first index, and they're monitoring them to make sure they're not hurt in terms of traffic and rankings. Note from Eric: Google needs to be very careful with these types of changes. While they might be desirable on some level, searchers often have quite specific things they want and need, including specific brands, and if they've been artificially demoted, that will also lead to user frustration. . This is the same reason why things like HTTPS and page speed are such poor ranking factors. Illyes then notes that if your site is responsive,
you are good to go! But many sites that have other mobile setups are n't ready to go . Common issues with mobile sites are: Some content and links on the desktop site may not be present. Rel= annotations may not be there (e.g. hreflang). Structured data may jewelry retouching service be missing. Some media and images may be missing. Illyes then shared an example of a site that didn't move its hreflang tags and lost 50% of its traffic. This is exactly the type of thing that Google wants to avoid. Here's what you need to do to prepare for the mobile-first index: If your site is responsive, you are already good to go.
Make sure your mobile pages have all the same videos and images as your corresponding desktop pages. Make sure your mobile site contains all the content and links that appear on the corresponding desktop pages. Be sure to implement hreflang tags on mobile pages. Be sure to transfer structured data from your desktop pages. Last, but not least, don't panic! The opinions expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily of Search Engine Land. Staff authors are listed here.