23 novembre 2020
What is mobile first?
Mobile first is simply putting the mobile phone at the heart of your web marketing strategy. In Web Design, it is in fact about thinking about your website and developing it primarily for mobile. Beyond a responsive site, it is now a matter of giving priority to mobile versions, then subsequently adapting to other types of screens.
But why are we talking to you about mobile first, anyway? Well, because today, your smartphone is no longer just a phone for calling or sending text messages. And yes, today, mobile is a channel of access to an entire world, the digital world! Finally, we understand each other. What we mean by that is that today mobile offers a large number of possibilities, that we must accept it, and above all, adapt to it!
This little device becomes essential. Internet users are increasingly browsing on their smartphones, to the detriment of computers. More internet users are surfing…from their smartphones! Figures from 2019 show that more than 50% of global web traffic was via mobile. This figure is expected to continue to increase over the years.
So if you haven't done so yet, it's high time to think about adapting your website to this small screen.
These days, mobile first is no longer an option. From March 2021, this will become a necessity to maintain visibility on the web.
Google favors this trend
Indeed, Google, the most used search engine in the world, puts mobile first in the spotlight in its SEO algorithm…
Why? Because now, beyond being present on the internet, your presence must be pleasant! Users are expecting more fluidity, an easy and pleasant experience. So in this context, if the user wants to consult your site, it must be just as convenient as on a computer. So, in a way, Google encourages companies that take the trouble to meet this expectation, by highlighting them in its algorithm.
Four years after the launch of the idea and implementation tests, Google’s “mobile first indexing” will soon be applied to 100% of websites.
This means that the indexing of your pages will no longer be based on the desktop version of your site. It will be done according to its mobile pages. Failure to adapt your site for mobile could result in a reduction in your visibility.
For some time now, Google has primarily used the mobile version of websites for their indexing.
Indexing is already partially implemented.
- This index is applied to 70% of sites that appear in search results
- The index is activated for all new sites that have gone online since July 1, 2019
Full activation of Mobile First Indexing for 2021
Initially planned to be effective from September 2020, the health crisis postpones the application of this index to March 2021. Enough to give latecomers a few more months to correct their sites!
Google also sends notifications when the site is not yet ready to be indexed by its new tool.
Also, Google takes the opportunity to give some advice to companies whose sites are not yet mobile-friendly. For example, checking that the Google robot can access all of the content of the site and its display, or ensuring that the contents of mobile and desktop sites are identical are mentioned.
If you want to learn more about how to make your site mobile-first, Google published an article on the subject this summer: “Prepare for mobile-first indexing”.
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