The rapid spike in mobile device use over the past few years has forced Google to adapt – and consequently Google is forcing the internet to adapt…and quickly. Google’s roll out of its ‘mobile first index’ has huge significance for digital marketing, SEO, web development and website owners – and businesses that don’t adapt are going to suffer for it. So it helps to understand what this mobile first index is and why Google is adopting it.
Google’s mission
Google mission is and has always been to serve the needs of its users. Google strives to serve up what people want, and to do that it relied on keywords in website code, then links, the analysis of user behaviour and preferences. The latest user behaviour metric is loud and clear about the fact that people increasingly prefer accessing the net from mobile devices.
Mobile-first indexing
Because what users see and can do on a mobile site might not be the same as what they get accessing the same site from a laptop or desktop, Google has had to prioritise the mobile version of a site to index for its ‘catalogue’ of websites – complete with the information that the search engine needs to fulfil its mission to serve the needs of its users. Mobile sites are more relevant to mobile users – and mobile users are now Google’s main customer base, therefore Google needs mobile device compliance and it will get this through its mobile-first index.
SEO and web design for mobile-first
With the advent of developments such as Google’s mobile index, the previously inexact ‘art’ of SEO is becoming more focused on mobile functionality and innovations. You still need content marketing and link building along with many ‘traditional’ aspects of digital marketing strategy, but mobile-friendly website design, along with apps and accelerated mobile content delivery, is now paramount as a foundation for SEO.
However, the end result of SEO is no longer just a place you get to and stay, it’s a place you’ll need to keep running to stay in. If your site isn’t yet adapted and optimised for mobile devices, you are close to being forced out of the race – but there’s still time to catch up and even overtake your competitors.
Contact us today for more information on how WSI OMS can help your business compete online with targeted, adaptive SEO and other marketing and web design services that keep pace with online trends, technological innovation and the needs of mobile device users.