Mobile version of the site and the best practices of mobile indexation in Google

Google uses a mobile version of the site content for indexing and ranking. This is called the default mobile indexation. Understanding this concept and following the best practices will provide your site with success in the Google search engine.

Although the presence of a mobile version of the site is not mandatory for including your content in the search results of Google, it is extremely recommended to have a mobile version. Following the best practices of mobile indexation, you will provide users with excellent experience when using your site through mobile devices.

Creating a mobile version of your site for better indexation in Google

If your site does not yet have a mobile version, it is strongly recommended to create a mobile site for your resource. There are several approaches to create a mobile version of the site:

Adaptive design: It serves the same code on one URL for all devices (for example, mobile phones, tablets and desktop computers), but content can be displayed differently depending on the size of the screen. Google recommends adaptive web design as the most convenient and simple way to implement.
Dynamic service: The same URL is used for all devices. However, for different devices, a different version can be provided using the User-Agent and HTTP mechanism Vary: User-Agent headers.
Separate URL: For various devices, different versions are used, placed on separate URLs. This approach is also used by the User-Agent and Vary HTTP mechanism to redirect users to the corresponding versions of the site.

Make sure Google can access and process the content of your mobile site

To successfully index the content of your mobile site, it is important that Google can see and correctly process its resources. Follow these recommendations:

Use the same Robots Meta tags on the site mobile and desktop versions. For example, if tags are used on the mobile version of the site noindex or nofollow, this may interfere with the indexation of Content in Google.
Do not use the "lazy load" of content that requires interaction with the user. Google does not load content that requires the user (for example, swipe, click or input of the text).
Do not block access to important resources of your site using Disallow tag in the Robots.txt file.

Checking content on the mobile and desktop version of your site

Make sure that the content on the mobile version of your site corresponds to the content on the desktop. Even if content is the same, the differences in the structure or layout can lead to a different perception of Google content. This is important so that your pages can occupy the same positions in the search results.

Provide the same content on the mobile and desktop version of the site.
Make sure that the structure and metadata (for example, headlines) are the same on both versions of the site.

Checking structured data on your Google website

Structured data play an important role in indexation. Make sure they are present on both versions of your site and that the links in these data are updated to mobile URLs.

Structured data should be the same on the mobile and desktop versions of the site.
Use the correct URL in structured data corresponding to mobile versions.

Checking advertising on a mobile website for indexing in Google

Do not allow advertising to negatively affect the ranking of your mobile site. Follow the Better ADS standards when placing advertising so as not to violate user experience on mobile devices.

Visual content check on a mobile website

Checking the images of your site

For the mobile version of the site, it is important to use high -quality images:

Use high -quality images. Avoid small and low -quality images.
Do not use unsupported images, for example, Google does not support .jpg images inside Inline SVG.
Provide the same ALT texts for images on mobile and desktop versions of the site.
Do not use dynamic URLs for images that change with each page load.

Video check on a mobile website

Make sure the video on your mobile site meets Google:

Do not use dynamic URL for video.
Provide the use of supported formats for video.
Check that the video is posted in an accessible place on the page.

Additional recommendations for sites with separate URLs for the mobile version

If your site uses separate URLs for mobile and desktop versions, it is recommended to observe the following additional practices:

Make sure that the pages on the mobile version do not lead to errors if everything works correctly on the desktop version.
Use the correct hreflang tags for mobile and desktop versions of the site.
Check that your mobile and desktop versions are correctly configured for working with Robots.txt.

Solving problems with mobile indexing and optimization

If your site is faced with problems in mobile indexation, check the following errors:

Lack of structured data: Make sure that structured data are present on both versions of the site.
Noindex wrong tag: Make sure that Robots Meta tags are the same on the mobile and desktop version of the site.
Lack of images: Make sure the images on the mobile version of the site correspond to the fact that there is on the desktop.

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