Get on Board with Google’s Mobile First Initiative

A major shift in how content ranks in search results is coming, and you need to be ready. Google’s mobile-first initiative is the future of rank results, with the company aiming to shift from desktop results to primarily mobile content, changing the way content ranks for good. Businesses and marketers not ready for the change could, unfortunately, be left behind and struggling to catch up.

Here are just a few ways you can prepare.

Create a Responsive Website

Migrating your existing content into a fully responsive website will help when the mobile-first initiative goes live. Google has maintained a desktop-first index and has promised to continue crawling desktop websites after the change, but you’re still doing yourself a favor if you update before launch.

Google will update any responsive websites with mobile annotation updates to speed up the indexing process, which gives you an advantage. Fortunately, you still have time, as the initiative isn’t scheduled to roll out until 2018 or later.

Add Content to Your Mobile Site

Most businesses publish most of their content on desktop sites. The bad news is, if your mobile site has less content than the desktop version, Google may only see the lackluster mobile version, which can reduce your search rankings. While switching to a responsive website is ideal, you should be adding plenty of content to your mobile site in the meantime.

Focus on Expandable Content

Google hasn’t weighed expandable content as heavily on desktop websites, and by “expandable content” we mean information hidden in tabs and other expandable boxes. With the mobile-first indexing, however, this hidden content is given full consideration by Google because it makes more sense on mobile.

Start planning your long-term SEO strategy now with Exults. Contact us today to partner with an experienced full-service agency that anticipates these changes and can help you prepare.