Google update: Mobile-first

Mobile-first vs. Desktop content

Mobile-first vs. Desktop content: Do they need to be the same?

Do you own a company? Are you looking at designing a website for your business? Do you work as an SEO or Digital marketing consultant in a company? If your answer is yes to any one of the questions, then you have the hit the right page. Yes, content marketing is dominating the world.

First feel convinced by reading the blog, how Narendra Modi won 2019 elections with content marketing. I am sure you will now agree with me. What next? Am I going to talk about what content should you craft to get more business? No, I am not. But, I am going to explain to you how to design your website to stand on the top in Google ranking.

When I said content is the king, then I mean by default that your content should be SEO optimized to allow Google to pull data from the search engine results page (SERP). Fine, let us assume that your content is great and SEO optimized as well. Still, you are not found on the top in the search. What will you do? Will you make much better content? Well, it depends. But, my suggestion to you is to start thinking about the website design. It is because these days Google pulls data based on the content that is compatible with the mobile version of your site.

We will now analyze the details about what is mobile site and how does it have an impact on content marketing. In the following sections, you will get introduced to the words mobile site, mobile-first, responsive design, etc. At the end of my entire explanation let me give you my verdict about the question lingering in your mind “Do you need to design your content desktop as well as mobile site friendly?”

What is a mobile version of a site?

We at Great Learning believe in asking questions to just not find answers but to make you realize the need for every change. Before, answering this question you must know that more than 430 million people access any website through their Smartphones. This report was submitted in 2018 by statista.com. Now, the answer is very clear that the website that is mobile friendly is called a mobile site. You may even be one among now reading this content from your mobile phone.

What is mobile-first?

When the whole world started giving importance to mobile phones, so followed the search engine giant Google. Yes, they started indexing the websites based on the mobile usage of the site. This means, your content will be ranked on the top based on mobile search and not desktop search.

Since July 2019, Google has made mobile-first indexing as the default evaluation criteria. However, older sites with desktop content are still evaluated with other best practices. Beware! It will not take much time for Google to announce that desktop contents which are not mobile-friendly to go obsolete.

Therefore, writing SEO optimized content alone will not suffice but they need to be mobile-friendly. Do not panic, as you can always convert your desktop content to mobile-first content and still stand a chance to stay on the top in Google indexing.

Why it is required to craft mobile-first content?

Mobile-first contents are becoming the need of the hour today. Find below the following reasons that confirm the need for mobile-first content.

Primarily, understand that there is nothing called as mobile-first content. We all know that content is just a combination of text, images, videos, and infographics. Mobile-first content is no different from desktop content. But, the mobile-first design of your website is going to rule content visibility. So you need not create any mobile-first content but design a mobile-first site that will accommodate your content in such a way people can read them at ease. Also, fine-tune your content in terms of text size, font, etc to make it more visible on all smart devices.

1. Mobile phones are handy, easy to carry, and thanks to the data plans that make it possible to use mobile phones anywhere and everywhere. This is the first reason that demands you to design a mobile-first website.
2. How many people read content using desktop today? The numbers are going down when compared to Smartphone readers. SimilarWeb statistics reports that 58% of the US population uses the mobile phone to access websites. This creates a compelling need to create mobile-first content.
3. It is because people started reading contents using their phone, Google also decided to index contents based on its readability and accessibility on Smartphone screens. The trend started to grow in November 2016 when Google first decided to experiment with mobile-first indexing (MFI). Now, in July 2019 Google has made it a default evaluation method.

Is there another reason required to emphasize the need for mobile-first content?

How to convert desktop content to mobile-first content?

Now, the next question is how to create mobile-first content. When you are making a new website, then stay assured that it is a mobile site by itself. There is no special need to think about designing one. However, your existing website needs to be modified to make it mobile-friendly.

This is when you will get another doubt in your mind. “I have designed a responsive website; do I need to worry about mobile-first design?” Well, the answer to this question is tricky. Find the answer here.

Many of us think that responsive web design and mobile-first design are the same. It is not? Understand in detail before you convert your desktop content to mobile-first content. This understanding will help you know how to keep your content the same on both desktop and mobile. It is not rocket science though.

Desktop-first has gone and responsive web design is slowly signing off to allow mobile-first to rule the content marketing arena.

We are well aware of desktop first and hence we will straightway discuss responsive web design.

Responsive web design Vs Mobile-first design

• Responsive web design looks similar to mobile-first and the ingredients are the same. However, they differ in their approach, strategy, and methods.
• Responsive design is a tech design and the website is designed compatible to be viewed from any device. CSS is used and the site is adjusted according to the device and the coding is complex. Also, desktop content looks more optimized when compared to other devices. Have you ever faced difficulty in looking at images while reading content from a web page? If yes, then that is the hiccup when using responsive design. How much ever care is taken to make it device friendly, due to the complexity of the code it becomes difficult.
• On the other hand, mobile-first is a design strategy by itself. It uses a mobile responsive framework and mobile users are considered first.
• In simple words, mobile-first focuses on giving customized views to mobile users followed by desktop users. On the contrary, the responsive design focuses on desktop readers on priority. It is easy to design a site that fits content in a mobile device and make it larger for the desktop. The reverse always causes trouble while aligning the content to mobile phones from the desktop.
• Yes, it is clear now both responsive and mobile-first design are not the same. Responsive is mobile friendly whereas mobile-first as the name implies keep mobile user in mind and design accordingly. Then we need to know how to convert your existing desktop content to mobile-first.

Desktop content to Mobile-first content

You don’t need to change the entire content but you must make some alterations in the way your content can be looked from mobile devices.

• Speeding up your site using accelerated mobile pages (AMP), an open-source initiative. Use progressive web apps (PWA), alternatively combine PWA and AMP to improve the speed of your site. Before you attempt to change, check the speed of your site and if it is fine, then do nothing keep it as responsive design and your content is accessible in mobile-first.
• In case you have an “m” subdomain for mobile contents, then you have different URLs for mobile and desktop content. Here you need to be careful as there will be a great impact in Google ranking. In this situation, you can convert desktop content to mobile-first with minor tweaking.
• Make the best use of accordion and the drop-down menus.
• Do away with Flash and use Java or HTML5. Flash contents are not visible for Apple users.
• Be careful about pop-ups
• Let your content text size be at least 16 px to improve the readability.
• Do not block images, Javascript or CSS as mobile processor speed and memory are greatly improved in recent years.

Finally, start thinking mobile-first by viewing your site from a mobile phone and then you can quickly convert your desktop content to mobile-first content.

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Tips to check if your site has moved to Mobile-first

Ok, you have now followed the steps given above and migrated from desktop to mobile-first content. But, always remember that creating a brand new mobile-first content is always better when compared to converting an existing one. In case, you opt for the latter method of converting, then you can follow the steps to check if you are successful in your conversion.

• Reach Google search console and check. Open a browser and click search.google.com/search-console/mobile-friendly and then your URL to know whether your changes are accepted or not.
• Find if the crawl rate increase from the Googlebot
• Also, check more details about mobile-first indexing to make your site reach the top ranking.
• In the event of you finding the above steps too technical then do not bother. Just click here and you will see a page as shown in the screenshot below.

Enter your URL and check if your content is mobile friendly.

• From the details you fetch following the tip given above you will know where your site stands and what is the issue to be resolved. The possible issues would be mobile CRO, responsive design, content, speed, and technical SEO. You can resolve each one independently and make your content mobile-first content.

Final take away

What is the impact if I have not moved my site to mobile-first from desktop content?

Straight forward answer to this question is, currently Google will continue to rank your site based on your desktop content. However, very soon, your content will lose visibility.

Act now

Based on your business you must take a call and the impact will be as follows.

• If 80% of your audiences are desktop users, then you are safe today and continue with responsive design. Slowly migrate to mobile-first.
• On the other hand, if 80% of your readers are mobile users already, then you have no time. Start acting immediately to make your content mobile-first friendly.
• Yes, there is a chance where your business deals with 50% of viewers who fall in both categories. Here it is tricky, and you need to start with Google analytics to get the actual info and start building a mobile-first site.

Our verdict — Mobile-first Vs desktop content — same or not

If ranking is a must for your site then you need to convert your desktop content to mobile-first content. Google MFI is done based on responsive design and not “m.” Please move your site from desktop-first to mobile-first.

The first step towards making your desktop content to mobile-first is to re-think your content. Make short blog articles using a combination of text, image, and audio. Make content that is indexed properly. Let your data be structured and consistent with both desktop and mobile. Effectively use small images and make sure they are visible on mobile screens.

Understand that desktop content is not the same as the mobile-first content. Therefore take steps to go with the flow and skyrocket your business. Prioritize your content above all in the mobile-first strategy and create the best user experience for mobile users. Decrease the download time and provide identical experience across all the platforms.

Create your content not just as mobile-first or desktop first but remember user-first is the buzz word and you need to customize your site and contents accordingly.