The B2B buyer journey is always changing, but one thing remains the same: Humans are humans, and they do research at whatever time and whatever screen they feel like in the moment. Google recognizes the majority of traffic now comes from mobile platforms. The company is making a tectonic change to search: It’s called mobile-first indexing, and it matters.
Mobile-First Indexing Explained
Today’s decision-makers are surrounded by screens that hold opportunity. It is no longer enough to assume they’ll be accessing your site from a work desktop: You must have a mobile-friendly website.
Mobile-first indexing means Google looks at the mobile version of your website first when deciding how you rank in search. In effect, your mobile site is now your most valuable digital asset.
How to Prepare for Mobile-First Indexing
To excel in the mobile-first world, your site must be optimized to provide a superior user experience to visitors no matter what platform they use.
Here’s how:
1.Test Your Mobile Site
Various online tools can help you test your existing site’s performance on mobile browsers and displays. Your CRM may already have one bundled in. Use it to verify each of your design changes.
2.Avoid Flash
Adobe, makers of Flash, are phasing it out in 2020. It will not be compatible with modern mobile platforms. Besides, it’s already a resource-hog that slows down your site. Remove it completely.
3.Eliminate Pop-Ups
Pop-ups aggravate desktop users, but they’re worse for mobile. A pop-up often renders a site impossible to navigate. You can’t test these on all platforms, so phase them out.
4.Optimize Graphics
A major rule of mobile is no big graphics. Mobile connections may be slower than desktop and have costly data restrictions. Use image compression to make smaller images load faster, too.
5.Optimize Content
Mobile-optimized content is responsive, meaning the layout adjusts to the user’s display and input methods. Without this, most users won’t stick around long enough to convert.
What’s next for mobile-first indexing? Remember, your site doesn’t need to be exclusively for mobile: It needs to provide a fast, pain-free experience to users across all platforms.
Google’s mobile-first rollout was cautious, aiming to avoid disrupting search results too much. However, it’s fair to assume they will continue to raise the priority of good mobile performance.
Generate leads and increase ROI by adapting to Google’s mobile-first indexing requirements. Let’s find out together what you need. Request a consultation.