Mobile-first indexing

Why mobile-first indexing matters

Since most searches now happen on mobile devices, Google evaluates your mobile experience first—for all searches, even those on desktop. If your mobile site is slow, broken, or missing content, your rankings suffer universally.

This represents a fundamental shift. Previously, Google primarily crawled desktop sites. Now, mobile is the primary version. Sites without mobile versions or with significantly weaker mobile experiences face ranking penalties.

Mobile-first requirements

Content must match between mobile and desktop. Hidden mobile content (accordion sections, tabs, collapsed menus) may not be indexed as prominently. Make critical content visible by default.

Structured data must appear on mobile too. Images need mobile-appropriate sizes and proper alt text. Mobile performance affects rankings directly through Core Web Vitals.

Navigation must work on mobile. If important pages are only linked from desktop navigation, mobile-first indexing may not discover them. Ensure all critical content is accessible via mobile navigation.

Mobile-first design approach

Responsive design ensures one codebase adapts to all screen sizes. But true mobile-first means designing for mobile screens first, then enhancing for larger viewports—not squashing desktop layouts into phone screens.

Consider mobile constraints from the start: smaller viewports, touch targets, slower connections, shorter attention spans. What's essential? What can progressively enhance for desktop? This approach creates better experiences across all devices.

Testing mobile-first readiness

Google Search Console reports mobile usability issues: tap targets too small, viewport not set, content wider than screen. Fix these before they impact rankings.

Test your site on actual mobile devices, not just browser emulators. Real phones reveal network latency, touch behaviour, and screen quality issues that emulators miss.

Mobile-first in every build

We design mobile-first by default. Designs start at 375px width, ensuring the experience works brilliantly on phones. Desktop becomes enhancement, not the foundation. This guarantees excellent mobile-first indexing from launch.