Google is moving mobile first, are you?

After a year and a half of testing, Google has started to roll out their 'mobile-first indexing'  of the web. This means that websites will now be ranked on whether they are responsive, based on their mobile version - including yours!

Page Lizard's digital tools equip you to stay on the digital cusp of innovation by prioritising for mobile, boosting audience engagement and increasing your organisation's potential to improve ranking and status on the web. 

Google's announcement

TechCrunch shared Google's recent announcement to implement "mobile-first" web indexing. The plan was initially detailed in 2016 when it was decided that algorithms would be shifted to use the mobile version of a website's content to index its pages. In addition, the mobile version would be prioritised when understanding the pages' structured data.

Now, the first wave of sites are being shifted over to the new mobile-first indexing. This change is happening because most Google searches happen on mobile, and have been so since 2015 (TechCrunch). 

What does this mean?

• There will be a single index for search results - not a mobile-first index that is separate from its main index.
• Mobile-friendly web pages will be boosted in search results.
• Slow-loading content will be ranked below sites that are faster loading.
• Although there is a not a direct effect on ranking, having mobile-friendly content will help your content 'perform better' in the majority of mobile searches.

More reasons to optimise for mobile

Google's announcement leaves publishers with food for thought - is your content mobile friendly?

There is still time before the shift to mobile-first index ranking is complete, and Google assures webmasters that if they only have desktop content, they will continue to be represented. However, the mobile movement is not going to wait for anyone. 

As a publisher, there are countless reasons to adopt a mobile-first approach to publishing content. Creating content to be (conveniently) accessible online allows organisations to connect with their audiences in the manner that they want. The mobile phone is an ever present device, if you want to get access to your audience it needs to be at the core of your digital communications strategy. 

Advantages to being mobile-friendly

• Inclusive global reach. There are endless statistics to show how mobile use is on the constant increase. 
• Mobile-user behaviour is different to desktop behaviour. The experiential expectation on mobile differs to desktop as content is assumed to be responsive, visual and fast-loading. 
• Improved audience engagement. The manner of mobile engagement is portable and convenient. If your content responds well to mobile and navigates easily, it is more likely that your audience will return to your site. 
• Improved traffic with decreased bounce rate. For example, 64% of Pinterest's referred traffic comes from either smartphones or tablet devices (Mobile Marketing Watch). If your site loads well on  mobile, it is less likely that your audience will leave the site. 

By now, you should not need any more convincing as to why mobile devices are key to growth or why digital is the way forward over print. To learn more about the power of digital download our free e-guide on 15 x reasons to make the change

Mobile distribution with Page Lizard

Page Lizard offers the complete solution to putting your content mobile-first with our bespoke apps and web apps. Our digital technology allows you to distribute your content on mobile-optimised platforms.

You can create your own digital content that is delivered effectively and directly into the hands of your audience (quite literally). If you want to begin the journey to excellent digital content that mimics Google's movement in prioritising mobile, then now seems like a good time to talk. 

Image source: pixabay