So that your site is correctly indexedit is essential that it is designed in mobile First.
Indeed, Google crawlers' robots your website as if it were a surfer on mobile. Having a FIRST mobile site is therefore a prerequisite for reference.
Let's discover 7 points to have a well indexed mobile first site on search engines.
The difference between mobile friendly and mobile first
Since 2015, Google has promoted websites that adapt to the screen format used by the Internet user. These sites, with a responsive design, are considered “mobile friendly”.
However, this does not mean that navigation is comfortable or that the user experience is pleasant. It very often happens that the display is not very readable or that the download time is exceptionally long.
This is explained by the fact that a “mobile friendly” site is very often designed after the Desktop version. However, there is a large difference between the navigation and use standards between these two versions.
From now on, it is the concept of “mobile first” that prevails. It is necessary to favor as a priority the creation of the mobile site before the desktop version. The design of a “mobile first” site aims to offer mobile users an unforgettable experience. Companies can then adapt the latter to the office version or choose to offer a specific model for each medium.
Read too :: 9 WordPress themes to create a mobile site
Why create a mobile first index?
If, so far, it was enough for your site to appear perfectly on all screens to satisfy the search engine, today, Google is much more demanding!
From the push of the mobile internet, several developers have endeavored to offer different content and formats depending on the support used by Internet users. After all, mobile users are not looking for the same experience as Internet users from a computer.
Google therefore wishes to reward companies that make the effort to promote the user experience on mobile. This is why the “mobile friendly” index gives way to the “mobile first”. Companies that want to keep their SEO visibility on the search engine must make some changes …
The points to control for a well -referenced mobile site
Test structured data
Structured data are useful to help this dear Googlebot To better understand the content of your pages. In addition, they allow you to highlight your pages in a sophisticated way in the search results, most often in zero position, thanks to ” Rich Snippets ».
If you use structured data on the “desktop” versions of your pages, you must have the same thing on mobile versions, because with mobile indexing First, Google will only use the mobile version of your page for indexing.
Testing your pages in this regard may be delicate. We suggest that you test structured data in general, then compare it to the mobile version of the page. For the mobile version, check the source code when you simulate a mobile device or use the HTML code generated with the testing tool adapted to mobiles.
Note that a page does not need to be adapted to mobiles to be taken into account for mobile indexing.
Check the “Noindex – Nofollow” tags
You must use the same directives in your Robots.txt On the 2 versions of your site. If you use “Noindex” (or ” nofollow ») On mobile, it is possible that Google cannot index (or follow) the links on your page when your site is indexed in mobile-first.
Watch out for “Lazy Loading”
In the same way that you must make sure you don't block any resources, and also have to be careful that you place in “Noindex – NofOLLOW”, you must allow Google to read what you are gradually loading on your page.
The Lazy Load is very common on mobile. However, avoid placing your main content behind this practice, asking for a user's interaction (slide, or click), because Googlebot will not trigger these interactions.
Your content will not be indexed, your images will no longer be displayed in Google Images. The Lazy Load must automatically load the content when it must be visible on the screen.
Read too :: 8 design tips to convert on mobile with your product pages
Do not block useful resources on mobile
Some resources have different URLs on the mobile version: they are sometimes served on different hosts. If you want Google to explore your URLs, be sure not to prohibit its exploration with your Robots.txt file.
For example, the URL blocking of .CSS files will prevent Googlebot from making your pages correctly, which can harm your pages in search. Likewise, the URL blocking of images will make these images of Google Images disappear (temporarily). Speaking of images …
Assign the same URLs to your images on Desktop and Mobile
If your images do not have the same URL on the office and mobile versions, plan to assign them the same address, so as not to undergo their deindexation, even temporary.
Besides, why don't they have the same URL? You wouldn't use smaller images to get them on a smaller screen by chance? If this is the case, it is a very bad practice: these low -resolution vignettes can be considered to be of “poor quality” by Google which will judge them too small to be presented in Google Images. Speaking of Google Images…
Optimizing your alternative text for Google Images
The value of the “ALT” attributes on images is a great way to describe images to visually impaired users using “screen readers”, and robots of search engines. Without the “Alt” attribute on your images, it is much more difficult for Google Images to understand the images you use on your pages.
Check the “IMG” tags in the source code of the mobile version of the important pages of your website and check that they have the appropriate “ALT” attributes for the images you want to see in Google Images.
Tap your videos
If your desktop version uses structured “videoobject” data to describe your videos, well done! Just make sure that the mobile version includes the same markup, with similar information.
Finally, be sure to place your videos in a place accessible from the mobile version of your pages. Poorly marked or poorly placed videos could harm the user experience, and therefore your score ” Web core vital This could lead Google to index your videos badly.
Read too :: 11 Tips to follow to write seo friendly content
Placing mobile at the heart of the design of their website is now the new priority of companies.
This means that the ergonomics of the site must be thought above all for mobile navigation and then declined for the office. The operation must also allow the site to be efficient: speed of the download speed, clickable buttons of adequate size, etc.
And if you need help to develop a site suitable for mobiles, our freelance developers are at your disposal. Quickly post your advertisement on coder!