Not too long ago, mobile devices were used primarily for simple tasks like making calls and sending texts. But today, mobile devices are powerful mini-computers that we use for just about everything, from keeping up with our social media feeds to mobile banking and online shopping. It’s no wonder that mobile traffic has now overtaken desktop traffic, and this trend is only going to continue in the years to come.
This shift in how we use mobile devices has major implications for businesses, especially when it comes to their website and online presence. Google has already announced that they will be prioritizing mobile-friendly websites in their search results, and it’s only a matter of time before other search engines follow suit. This means that if your website is not mobile-friendly, you could miss out on many potential traffic and customers.
So what does this all mean for your website’s SEO? In short, it means that you need to make sure your website is optimized for mobile devices.
What is the Mobile-First Index?
Google has been working on a mobile-first index for some time now. The mobile-first index is a shift in how Google crawls and indexes websites. Until 2016, the Googlebot would crawl and index websites primarily using the desktop version of the site. But with the mobile-first index, Google is now using the mobile version of websites as the primary source for crawling and indexing.
This means that if your website doesn’t have a mobile-friendly version, it will be at a serious disadvantage in the search results.
What are the implications of the mobile-first index?
The mobile-first index has major implications for businesses and their website SEO. If your website is not mobile-friendly, you could see a significant drop in your search rankings.
In addition, the mobile-first index could also impact your website’s organic traffic and overall visibility.
What is a mobile SEO audit?
A mobile SEO audit is a process of auditing your website to ensure that it is mobile-friendly and optimized for mobile devices. This audit will involve checking your website’s design, layout, content, and mobile-specific elements to ensure that it is optimized for mobile devices.
For example, your mobile SEO audit will check if your website’s design is responsive and mobile-friendly. It will also check to ensure that your website’s content is mobile-friendly.
Why should you audit your mobile website?
There are a number of reasons why you should audit your mobile website. First and foremost, as mentioned above, the mobile-first index is now live, and mobile-friendliness is a ranking factor for Google.
If your website is not mobile-friendly, you could see a significant drop in your search rankings. In addition, mobile-friendliness is also important for the overall user experience.
Users are more likely to abandon a website that is not mobile-friendly, which could impact your website’s organic traffic and conversion rates.
Finally, it’s important to audit your mobile website because mobile devices are continually changing and evolving. This means that what is considered mobile-friendly today may not be considered mobile-friendly in the future.
Regularly auditing your mobile website ensures that it is always up-to-date and optimized for mobile devices.
What should you check first in a mobile SEO audit?
When conducting a mobile SEO audit, there are several factors that you should check.
Mobile compatibility
The first thing you should check is whether or not your website is mobile-compatible. This means checking to see if your website’s design is responsive and mobile-friendly.
You can do this by using Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test. This tool will analyze your website and tell you if your website is mobile-friendly.
If your website is not mobile-friendly, you will need to make some changes to your website’s design.
Usage data
The next thing you should check is your website’s usage data. This includes your website’s bounce rate, mobile conversion rate, and click-through rate.
You can check your website’s usage data by using Google Analytics. Go to your Google Analytics account and click on the “Audience” tab. From here, you can see all of your website’s usage data.
If you notice that your website has a high mobile bounce rate or a low mobile conversion rate, this is an indication that your website is not mobile-friendly. You will need to make some changes to your website to improve these metrics.
Loading time
Another important factor to check is your website’s loading time. Mobile users have a shorter attention span than desktop users and are less likely to wait for a slow website to load.
You can check your website’s loading time by using Google’s PageSpeed Insights tool. Enter your website’s URL, and Google will give you a report on your website’s loading time.
If your website has a slow loading time, you will need to make some changes to your website to improve its speed.
Checking the directives
When conducting a mobile SEO audit, you should also check the directives. Directives are instructions that tell search engines how to crawl and index your website.
There are two types of directives:
1. Meta tags
2. Header tags
Meta tags are HTML tags that provide information about your website. They are located in your website code’s <head> section.
Header tags are HTML tags that provide information about your website’s content. They are located in your website code’s <body> section.
You can check the directives by using a tool like Screaming Frog. Enter your website’s URL, and Screaming Frog will give you a report on your website’s directives.
Mobile vs. desktop comparative SEO audit
Once you’ve checked all of the above factors, you should conduct a mobile vs. desktop comparative SEO audit. This will help you identify any mobile-specific issues you need to address.
To conduct a mobile vs. desktop comparative SEO audit, you will need to launch two successive crawls, one for mobile and one for desktop.
You can use a tool like hextrakt to launch the crawls. Enter your website’s URL, and hextrakt will give you a report on the differences between your website’s mobile and desktop versions.
How is a mobile SEO audit different from a website SEO audit?
The main difference between mobile SEO audit and a website SEO audit is that a mobile SEO audit specifically focuses on the mobile version of your website.
- A mobile SEO audit will help you identify any mobile-specific issues you need to address.
- A website SEO audit, on the other hand, will examine your website as a whole and help you to identify any issues that need to be addressed.
- Mobile and website SEO audits are important for ensuring that your website is optimized for mobile and desktop users.
Mobile crawl vs. desktop crawl
When conducting a mobile SEO audit, you will need to launch two successive crawls, one for mobile and one for desktop. This is because there are some differences between your website’s mobile and desktop versions.
A mobile crawl will focus on the mobile version of your website. This crawl will help you to identify any mobile-specific issues that you need to address.
On the other hand, a desktop crawl will focus on your website’s desktop version. This crawl will help you identify any issues that need to be addressed on the desktop version of your website.
A mobile SEO audit is a great way to ensure your website is mobile-friendly. It will help you identify any mobile-specific issues you need to address. A mobile SEO audit is different from a website SEO audit in that it specifically focuses on the mobile version of your website. You can conduct a mobile SEO audit by launching two successive crawls, one for mobile and one for desktop.