Mobile-First means that Google uses the mobile version of a website when indexing and ranking. In the past, Google used the desktop version.
This means that if you have separate versions of your mobile and desktop site, Google will index and rank the mobile version of your site.
So, why has Google switched to Mobile-First indexing? Because the number of people who have access to the internet via their mobile devices is constantly and rapidly growing. People prefer to use their mobile devices.That trend will continue. Mobile phone users are everywhere and they use the mobile phone all day long. Small screens are very important! We want to do things on our mobile and we want to do it right away. We do not want to have to look for a computer.
Mobile adaptation and responsiveness are today a matter of course when developing new sites and services. Mobile-First becomes real when we put the user’s needs first.
Googles timeline for Mobile-First
2016: Mobile-First indexing is announced by Google.
2018: The new indexing begins to roll out.
2019: The new indexing takes place automatically for new websites.
2020: Over 70% of crawled websites are now Mobile-First.
2021: 100% Mobile-First indexing.
You will rank lower on Google if you do nothing
Unfortunately, if your site is not ready for the new indexing, you will witness a loss in terms of both ranking and customer experience. So be sure to design for mobile devices first and then scale up for the larger formats. And do it now!
