Google said… WHAT?! Relax dear publishers, Google will still index your site even if it’s not mobile-friendly.
Latest news about Google’s migration to a “mobile-first” index for Google Search has resulted in a big confussion among website owners and have people scratching their heads.
Several online media have wrongly reported that sites that are non-mobile friendly will no longer index after the 5th of July, but this is NOT true.
So let’s all just take a breath and find out what’s really going on.
The truth about “Mobile-first Indexing” update by Google after July 5th
“Mobile-first approach” It’s not a ranking thing – it’s about what can or cannot be indexed.
John Mueller from Google shared an update about the final last step of Google’s migration to a mobile-first index for Google Search:
”Over the years, the number of sites that aren’t accessible on mobile has continued to shrink. To simplify our systems, and to make it easier for sites to debug issues related to device types, we’ll soon crawl all sites for Search with the Googlebot Smartphone crawler.”
This change means that Google will not index sites that cannot be accessed from a mobile device. This applies only to sites that completely fail to load on mobile devices. In simple words, if a site blocks mobile users, Google won’t index.
For most websites, this transition shouldn’t be a big deal, as mobile-first indexing has been the norm for years. As our friend John also mentioned in the update, “Don’t worry, most websites don’t need to do anything!”.
On the other hand, it is time to panic if you own an old school html website from back in the day that is still desktop-only.
How to check if your web pages are indexed in Google
Easy-Peasy. Make sure your website is indexed in Google by using the Google Search Console -URL Inspection tool to verify that it renders properly.
Let’s not forget! Mobile-friendly websites still rule the world
Remember that even though your site may still be indexed by Google even if it is not mobile-friendly, it is important to maintain a mobile-friendly website to rank well in Google Search.
Here are 5 main reasons you should have mobile-friendly site.
There is no doubt that more and more people use their mobile device to search on google, In fact, you may be using your mobile phone right now to read this article!
Keep these mobile users in mind and you will succeed, as a mobile-friendly site allows you to:
-
Rank better in Google search with SEO best practices. Mobile-friendly is the new SEO gold standard! Google give top spots for websites that are good on phones. Yes, as simple as that.
-
Expands your audience reach. Go mobile or go home! With everyone on their phones, a mobile-friendly site makes sure your content reaches far and wide
-
Better brand image. Users may be more loyal and increase their trust in your brand if they can also access your site via their phone, not just their desktops, and interact easily.
-
Improves user experience (UX). It’s not just about having a mobile-friendly website. It’s about allowing users to navigate your site without having to tear their hair out.
-
Increases revenue from Ads: Today, if a website is not adapted to a mobile user, it is losing visitors and if you monetize ads, this translates into lower revenue!
Do you have a rocking website or an app and want to monetize ads? Reach out to us
We as Google Certified Publisher Partners, can help you get the most out of your site and increase your revenue to the next level! Contact our team of experts today
