Optimise Your Site for Google's Mobile-First Index

November 20, 2017 | Categorised in: Blog Tags: Google, Search, SEO Optimisation

An upcoming Google update, the Mobile-First Index, means that Google will now look at your mobile website first and consider it’s ranking points or signals. It will use your desktop version as a secondary option if there is no mobile site to rank. If you’ve been slow to make your website mobile-friendly, here are four things you can to do to optimise your website.

1. Speed up Your Website

In the Google’s Site Performance for Webmasters video, they state that a two-second load time is acceptable for most e-commerce websites, but Google wants to be at 0.5 of a second at the most for their website load times. When you’re optimising your website’s speed, consider these points:

Optimise Any Images – Large images take longer to load, and they can slow down your website. Optimise your images to the proper size to speed up your page.

Reduce Your Website’s Redirects – If you have several redirects on your website, this can cause your website to reload multiple times and slow it down.

2. Don’t Block any JavaScript, Images, or CSS

Early on, blocking these things caused websites to load faster and more effectively. Today, Smartphones are powerful devices, and they’re capable of handling a lot at once. Google wants to see these and categorise them as well to help rank your site, so make sure you’re not hiding them.

3. Be Concise with Your On-Page Optimisation

Mobile search engine result pages are more restrictive than traditional search engine result pages. You want to capitalise on this and keep your descriptions and titles concise and directly to the point. This can lead to Google understanding your page better, and possibly higher rankings.

4. Design Your Website for Mobile Devices

Good mobile design has become an art form, and you have to be able to design to increase your rankings.

Don’t Use Flash – Many mobile devices do not support Flash, so you have to get rid of them. If you want to have certain elements, you can use Java or HTML5.

Do Away with Pop-Ups – While lead generation is good for your site, if you have too many pop-ups, you risk frustrating your users and driving them away. It’s best to get rid of them on your mobile site.

Make it Easy to Scroll and Tap – People usually use their fingers to scroll or tap through websites, and accidentally clicking can be annoying. Streamline your mobile site to make scrolling easy.

Optimising your website to suit Google’s Mobile-First Index can help to ensure that you’re accessible to your customers on every device. These tips can help you streamline your mobile site, and it may help you to increase your rankings.

Client Testimonials

Telstra Media Group

AMIRE has been providing Telstra Media with SEO Services since the beginning of October 2013 and whilst still relatively new they have provided exceptional service and insight for the business thus far.

Telstra Media replaced our previous SEO agency (whom we had worked with for over 6 years) with AMIRE, which I believe is a clear indication of their SEO expertise and experience. Telstra Media is looking forward to a strong relationship with AMIRE and have no hesitation in recommending them to any company considering their services.

Grant Hilton | Search Producer
Digital Media and Content Services
Telstra Media Group

AAMI

I have known Sean and Amye from the days when ‘search’ was in its infancy in Australia. At the time my team and I were intent on establishing the online business for AAMI. We recognised early on how important search would be to help position AAMI on customer shopping lists for their insurance needs and as a cost effective marketing tool. Seam and Amye continue to impress me with the depth and breadth of knowledge they have with the search industry. Their technical knowledge is extensive and that helps remove the guesswork and makes decisions easier and more precise.

They listened and understood the AAMI business and what the key business drivers were. This helped us design and develop websites that balanced optimal search requirements with user experience and customer centric design.

It was principally through Sean and Amye’s knowledge and results driven attitude that positioned AAMI in a prominent position for all of AAMI’s key terms, a position it has held for many years.

David Jones
Former E-Business Manager
AAMI

Suncorp Group

Amye consulted on Suncorp Commercial Insurance for a number of years in optimising our business for search. In that period, Suncorp’s dominance in search helped the business receive an unprecedented number of lead opportunities, driving further investment and support of the online channel.

Amye’s professionalism and attention to detail served us well. Amye was always free and willing to assist with any queries we had about the complexities of SEO as well as providing us with up-to-the-minute news on trends and changes in search. We were always well prepared to stay ahead of the game.

Darren Abood
Senior Leader – Websites
Digital Distribution | Commercial Insurance
Suncorp Group

General Pants

As our consulting SEO Director, Amye showed an unwavering dedication to delivering the best search results within a sometimes challenging technical infrastructure. Her depth of knowledge and awareness of industry advances were exemplary, and always considered within the context of our search brief.

Amye’s friendly and relaxed professional approach ensures team members of every level have a good understanding of search objectives; this ultimately creates both a commercially successful and enjoyable partnership.

Michael Laxton
Head of Online & CRM
General Pants

Virgin Money

During my spell at Virgin Money Australia, Sean was the SEO expert from 24/7 Real Media, and proved to be deeply knowledgeable and of great service. I would recommend Sean as an SEO specialist for being extremely approachable, cheerful, professional and provided invaluable advice on improving the company site in natural search, combined with other paid search activity.

Peter Davis
Web Experience Manager
Virgin Money

Bigpond

The principals of Amire, Sean and Amye are well known within the search optimisation industry. I have worked directly with them for several years and they have always followed ethical practices in delivering great results. The quality of their work and trust worthiness is first rate. I always felt like my business was important and the best people were working on my account.

Dale Cohen
General Manager
BigPond Network | Telstra Digital Media & IPTV – Pay TV

More testimonials

Optimising Your Website for Google’s Mobile-First Index