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Google SEO & Mobile-First Indexing: What You Need to Know Now

The Google SEO ranking algorithms are about to change again (yes, again), and this one is going to be super important for your future search engine ranking results, both mobile and desktop.

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The newest algorithm metric is called mobile-first indexing, and as you might guess from the name, the mobile version of your website just got a lot more important for SEO. Google is testing the update now, and you can expect them to start rolling it out over the next few months.

Now is the time to make sure your website is ready to make the grade, or you could see your site rankings take a tumble in the near future.

What Is Google’s Mobile-First Indexing?

In the last few years, Google’s major algorithm updates have placed an increasingly greater emphasis on mobile sites. Last year, we discovered that your site would likely be ignored in the mobile SEO rankings unless you had a responsive mobile interface.

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Soon, however, Google’s web-crawling bots (the ones that determine how your site gets ranked) will be starting their crawl with your mobile interface and using their findings to determine your SEO rank.

If you don’t have a mobile interface, the bots will still crawl your desktop site. However, they will discount your site for mobile searches and — at least we believe — they may even penalize your site’s rank in future desktop searches.

What Should You Do Now to Protect Your Google SEO Rankings?

If you don’t already have a responsive mobile interface for your website, you can’t put it off any longer if you hope to attract any traffic from Google or the other search engines.

If you do have your mobile interface in place, it’s time to give it a thorough checkup to be sure it meets Google’s exacting standards. If you have a separate mobile site, you’ll have to be even more careful to ensure the site’s optimization is up to speed.

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It’s possible that, once this update rolls out, the Google web-crawlers will not visit your desktop site after it’s indexed your mobile site. If this does indeed occur, you must ensure that every SEO element from your desktop site — including content, backlinks, metadata, etc. — is implemented correctly on your mobile site.

You will also have to watch load time and page speed and verify that the site loads correctly across a full range of mobile devices.

Get Help from an Internet Marketing Pro to Protect Your Google SEO Rank

Unless you have an SEO expert on your staff, this may be a good time to reach out to an internet marketing expert for help.

A digital marketing firm can conduct a thorough analysis of your website — both desktop and mobile interfaces — to verify that you’re in good shape on both fronts. If something isn’t in place or working correctly, they can make recommendations to help you improve your search engine rankings.

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This might also be a good time to consider developing a new site, with a heavier focus on optimization for mobile. Using professional website design and development services is the best way to ensure that your site has all the elements and features that Google wants to see, including responsive web design. This ensures easy and accurate access for all your prospects and customers, whether they visit using a desktop computer, laptop, tablet, smartphone or another device.

Be Locally SEO helps businesses in Utah and across the United States with internet marketing, including SEO, local SEO, search engine marketing and pay-per-click campaigns. Our website design services provide a simple and cost-effective way for you to derive the maximum benefits from your online presence, and propel your site up through the search engine results rankings. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help you grow your business by improving your Google SEO rankings.

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