Mobile-First Indexing
Google's practice of using the mobile version of your site for indexing and ranking.
Mobile-first indexing means Google predominantly uses the mobile version of your website's content for indexing and ranking. Since 2023, Google uses mobile-first indexing for all websites — there's no opt-out.
This shift happened because more than half of all web searches come from mobile devices. It made sense for Google to prioritize the version of your site that most users actually see.
What this means in practice: if your desktop site has content that your mobile site doesn't, that content might not get indexed. If your mobile site loads slowly or has usability issues, it directly hurts your rankings — even for desktop searches.
Responsive design (where the same HTML adapts to different screen sizes) is the easiest way to handle mobile-first indexing. If you use responsive design, your mobile and desktop content are identical, so there's nothing extra to worry about.
Why It Matters for SEO
Google judges your site based on its mobile version. If your mobile experience is poor — slow loading, hard to navigate, missing content — it will hurt your rankings across all devices. Mobile optimization is no longer optional; it's the baseline.
🔍 How to Check This
AuditMySite checks mobile-friendliness and responsive design issues as part of its SEO scan.
Try SEO Scanner →