Google is going live with their first ever “mobile first” index – for some websites

Google announced last week that it is now testing its first “mobile first” index. Nearly a year ago, the internet search engine publicized their ingenuity in being the first search engine to crawl the world wide web from the perspective of a mobile phone. And the big test has begun as Google tries using their distinct mobile-friendly grading system to enhance content for their mobile indexes.

Rankings are Changing

Some Google staff have said that the indexing process for mobile phones is still in the experimental stages. But the proof will be in the pudding as precise changes are occurring now in Google rankings and everyone is talking about it. Google has apparently already been indexing some individual sites for the mobile version to see how search results turn out. Not everyone is happy.

In the next few weeks, webmasters and company owners with websites will notice distinct ranking modifications in Google. In the current Google index, people got their results from listings for desktop and mobile phone users. But now this will change – Google will crawl and index the mobile version of your website as its main basis for content and ranking signals for your site.

Mobile vs Desktop Listings

So, does everyone now need a mobile version of their website? No, Google says it would be great if you do get a mobile site but if you have a desktop version, it will crawl that one anyway, even if they are using a “mobile user agent” to look at your website. However, if your website content is not made for mobile phones, you will not rank well. Google knows that in future, more users will be using their mobiles to search the internet and the mobile first index will supersede desktop indexes.