Mobile-first indexing

It is about which version Google reads, not about where people search or how a page looks. If the mobile version of a page leaves out text, images, links or structured data that the desktop version has, Google works from the reduced version. Google has moved the web to mobile-first indexing, so this applies to essentially every site.

It is also different from mobile-first design, a way of designing that starts with small screens. A site designed desktop-first can be perfectly fine, as long as its mobile version contains the same content.

How it works

Googlebot Smartphone, Google's mobile crawler, fetches pages as a phone would and renders them. What it finds, including text, headings, images with alt text, internal links and metadata, is what goes into the index. The desktop crawler still visits some pages, but the mobile version is the primary source.

For a responsive site, where one page adapts to every screen, both versions are the same page and there is nothing extra to do. Problems arise with separate mobile sites, and with templates that drop content on phones or load images in ways the crawler cannot trigger.

Google's documentation lists what should match between the mobile and desktop versions: the main content, headings, structured data, titles and meta descriptions, robots meta rules, and image alt text. Content that loads lazily must appear without the visitor swiping, clicking or typing, because the crawler does not interact with the page. Sites with a separate mobile address, often on an m. subdomain, also need the right annotations linking the two versions, which is one reason Google recommends responsive design for new sites.

Example

A furniture shop's mobile layout shows only the first paragraph of each product description to keep pages short, with the rest missing from the mobile code rather than tucked into a tap-to-expand section. Google indexes the short version, and the product pages stop appearing for searches about materials and dimensions. Restoring the full text in an expandable block on mobile brings them back.

The problem took months to notice because the desktop pages looked complete to the owner, who managed the shop from a laptop. A check with URL Inspection, which shows the HTML Google rendered with its smartphone crawler, revealed the missing text in minutes. The shop now reviews every template change on a phone before publishing it, and the developer keeps one template for all screen sizes instead of a cut-down mobile one.

Why it matters for your business

Most small business sites built in recent years are responsive and unaffected. The risk lies with older sites, separate mobile subdomains and themes that strip content on phones, where pages can lose rankings for information only the desktop version shows. Checking a few key pages on a phone, or with Search Console's URL Inspection tool, is quick and cheap insurance. Responsive templates also mean one set of content to maintain instead of two, which avoids this whole class of problem, and moving an old separate mobile site to a responsive one is often worth doing for that reason alone.

Common mistakes

• Removing text, images or links from the mobile version to make it lighter.
• Blocking files the mobile crawler needs to render the page.
• Using different titles, meta descriptions or structured data on mobile and desktop.
• Assuming a page is fine because it looks right on a desktop screen.

Questions people ask

Does mobile-first indexing mean desktop sites are ignored?

No. It means Google uses the mobile version of a page as the main source for indexing and ranking. Desktop users still see the desktop version in results. If your mobile and desktop pages contain the same content, as on a responsive site, which version Google reads makes no difference.

How do I check if my site is ready for mobile-first indexing?

Open key pages on a phone and compare them with desktop: the same text, images, links and structured data should be present. In Google Search Console, the URL Inspection tool shows the page as Google's smartphone crawler sees it, including the rendered HTML and any loading problems.

Is content hidden in tabs or accordions on mobile indexed?

Google says content in tabs, accordions and expandable sections on mobile is indexed normally, as long as it is in the page code when the page loads. Problems arise only when content is not in the code at all until a user interacts, or when scripts fail for the crawler.