Mobile First Index: Align Your Mobile & Desktop Sites

This is an extract from TWIS SEO Update 23 June 2017.

Find out the reasons why you should get your Mobile and Desktop Sites Aligned Now in this post. It is becoming critical that your sites are adjusted to the  Mobile First Index before it launches. It could seriously impact your web business. Please feel free to contact me to discuss.

#SEO #MobileFirst #MobileSearch #MobileStrategy

Summary:

• Google is really pushing webmasters and sites to get their mobile presence in order before the Mobile First Index is released.
• Your mobile pages and your desktop pages should be “fully equivalent in content & functionality” before the index is released.
• If you have an m-dot mobile website, you should migrate those URLs to www before the index is released.
• Read about how the Mobile First Index is not Mobile Friendly.

How to get your site ready for Google’s Mobile First Index:

1. Move away from m-dot to www. 301 redirect from m-dot URLs to www URLs.
2. Align mobile and desktop content – use a Mobile First mindset to redesign any elements needed.
3. Read about the upcoming changes to the index and ranking algorithms in the post Mobile First Index is not Mobile Friendly. 
4. Use a responsive website design (RWD), but be aware that some elements of RWD are mobile-friendly, but are not mobile-first.
5. Contact me if you would like to discuss your updated mobile first site.

Mobile First Website Discussion:

Moving to Mobile First is not to be underestimated as a challenge, but just because it is a challenge does not mean it should not be undertaken.

For old websites this is going to be a big upheaval – most have made some moves to mobile, but often they have put out poor-cousin versions of their desktop websites, leading to poor user experiences and frustrations one the part of users, and executives as they see difficulties with trafficking and converting mobile traffic.

In this instance, there really is no time like the present. If you have a mobile-firendly website, you need to review it to make sure it is up to speed with a mobile first perspective. If you have a poor cousin mobile experience, you need to take steps now to put your mobile website in order. As discussed in last week’s TWIS SEO Update the index is likely to launch in early 2018, and it is likely to take that long to get your website sorted.

More info:

• H/T SE Roundtable – Move your M-Dots
• John Mu on Twitter

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I recently wrote about how Google’s Mobile First is Not Mobile Friendly. Read it now.

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• Get rid of your m-dot website – transition directly to Mobile First.
• Make sure the content and functionality on desktop and mobile versions of your site are equivalent.
• Read Mobile First is Not Mobile Friendly.
• Read The State of SEO in mid-2017.

Thanks for reading. If you would like to discuss what these changes mean for your web property, or would like to know how to implement them, please feel free to contact me.

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