What is Mobile-First Indexing?
Definition
Mobile-first indexing is Google's approach of primarily using the mobile version of a website's content for indexing and ranking, reflecting the dominance of mobile search.
Why mobile-first indexing matters
Mobile-first indexing matters because it determines which version of your content Google evaluates for rankings. If your mobile site is inferior to your desktop site, your rankings will suffer—even for desktop searches.
Most web traffic now comes from mobile devices, making mobile experience critical for user satisfaction. Sites that perform poorly on mobile lose visitors and conversions, regardless of how they rank.
Mobile-first indexing also affects which content gets indexed. If content, links, or structured data exist only on desktop, they may not be considered for ranking purposes.
Key concepts and types
- •Responsive design
Websites that adapt layout and content to fit any screen size automatically. - •Content parity
Ensuring mobile and desktop versions have the same important content. - •Mobile page speed
How quickly pages load on mobile devices and networks. - •Mobile usability
Whether content is easily readable and interactive on smaller screens. - •Structured data consistency
Including the same schema markup on both mobile and desktop versions.
Common misconceptions
- ✕Mobile-first indexing means only mobile rankings matter
- ✕Desktop sites don't need to be good anymore
- ✕Separate mobile sites (m.domain.com) are penalized
- ✕Mobile-first indexing only affects mobile search results
- ✕Having a mobile-friendly site guarantees good mobile rankings
Related terms
FAQs
How do you know if your site uses mobile-first indexing?
Google Search Console notifies you when your site switches to mobile-first indexing. You can also check by seeing if Googlebot Smartphone appears in your server logs as the primary crawler.
Does mobile-first indexing affect desktop rankings?
Yes. Google uses your mobile content to determine rankings for both mobile and desktop searches. Poor mobile content affects all rankings.
What if my mobile site has less content than desktop?
Add the missing content to your mobile site. With mobile-first indexing, content that only exists on desktop may not be indexed or considered for rankings.