Google is experimenting with primary indexing based on mobile sites

Google is testing indexing for its search engine on a mobile-first basis. The current ranking system still mainly focuses on the desktop pages, which can cause problems if the mobile site contains less content, according to Google.

Most people search on a mobile device these days, but by default the search algorithms don’t evaluate the actual page that a mobile user sees in front of them, according to Google. The company is therefore testing with a mobile-first index. The ranking of pages, the understanding of the structure of data and the short texts of pages in search results are based on the mobile site.

Google is currently testing on a small scale and in the coming months, but will gradually expand the new ways of indexing. For administrators of only desktop sites, nothing changes and those of responsive design, where the desktop content is equal to the mobile display, do not have to do anything, claims Google.

Administrators of sites where the mobile version differs significantly from the desktop version will have to deal with the new approach. They must check the markup structure with the Structured Data Testing Tool and make any necessary adjustments, ensure that the Googlebot can access the mobile site and verify the mobile version in the Search Console. Google has been promoting the use of mobile sites for some time now. A year and a half ago, the company adopted a new algorithm that ranks websites suitable for small screens higher in search results, but only when searching on smartphones.