It is a fact that today more and more searches on the Internet are done via mobile devices. The modern pace of life dictates that we have to complete a lot of tasks on the move, and therefore mobile devices take precedence in using the Internet. Google therefore introduced a ranking factor called mobile-first indexing back in 2018. We will answer what this concept exactly means and how it affects the optimization of web sites in the rest of the text.

What does mobile-first indexing mean?

This means that for Google, the mobile version of your website will become the starting point for what Google includes in its index and the base value for determining page ranking in search. This switch was made, as we mentioned, because more and more searches are coming from mobile devices. In order to give those users the best possible experience, Google decided it was time to prioritize results on mobile devices. It is important to note that mobile-first indexing is not a separate index. Google only has one index from which to display results.

It’s called mobile – first because it’s not mobile-only indexing. If a website does not have a mobile-friendly version, the desktop version of the website will still be included in the index. But, the lack of a mobile-friendly experience could negatively affect that site’s ranking, and those sites with a better mobile experience could potentially get a boost in rankings even when searched from a desktop . Here you can find a great free mobile-friendly web site tester that automatically tests multiple URLs.

**How does mobile-first affect SEO?**

Although at the very beginning two years ago there was no room for panic, and like any change it needed time to be implemented, today this factor is gaining more and more importance. What’s more, it could be said to be one of the most important factors, along with website loading speed and links to your website, that affect where you rank in Google search results.

You don’t have to have a mobile-friendly website to be in mobile-first indexing, as Google will also index websites built primarily for desktop devices. But it will be extremely difficult to rank your website if it is not mobile friendly. Therefore, all of you who still do not have a mobile-friendly website that is responsive on all screen sizes, think carefully about which next step is your priority. Of course, sometimes the solution is to have a website specifically created for mobile devices, and others specifically for desktop search. But you will agree that it is not so common in our country.