Technical Seo
Mobile-First Indexing
Google's approach of using the mobile version of your site's content for indexing and ranking. Since 2023, Google crawls and indexes exclusively with its mobile user-agent (smartphone Googlebot).
Why Mobile-First Indexing Matters for SEO
If your mobile site has less content, fewer internal links, or missing structured data compared to desktop, that's what Google sees. There is no separate desktop index. Anything hidden from mobile users is effectively hidden from Google.
How Mobile-First Indexing Works
Googlebot uses a smartphone user-agent to crawl your site. It sees exactly what a mobile visitor would see. Responsive design handles this automatically since the same HTML is served. Separate mobile sites (m-dot) or dynamic serving setups need careful parity between versions.
Common Mistakes
- Hiding content behind tabs or accordions on mobile that's visible on desktop
- Having structured data only on the desktop version of the page
- Using a separate mobile site with less content than the desktop version
Want to go deeper?
Read the full guide: Mobile-First Indexing →
Sources & Further Reading: