Search engine optimisation, in plain English
Mobile-First Indexing Explained
8 November 2026
Mobile-first indexing means Google uses the mobile version of a site's content, crawled with its smartphone crawler, for indexing and ranking. In practice, whatever is on your mobile pages is what Google judges you on. If your mobile site leaves out text, images, headings or structured data that your desktop site has, Google may not see them.
Quick answer: Mobile-first indexing means Google indexes and ranks the mobile version of your pages. Use responsive design if you can, make sure the mobile version has the same content, headings, titles, descriptions and structured data as the desktop version, and don't hide primary content behind clicks or swipes.
Key Takeaways
Google indexes and ranks the mobile version of your content, crawled with its smartphone crawler.
A mobile version isn't required, but Google very strongly recommends one.
Google recommends responsive design as the easiest to build and maintain.
Your mobile pages need the same content, headings, metadata and structured data as desktop.
Google won't load content that only appears after a click, swipe or typing.
What mobile-first indexing means
Google's mobile-first indexing best practices say it uses the mobile version of a site's content for indexing and ranking. A mobile version isn't required for your content to appear in search results, but Google says it's very strongly recommended.
Three ways to build a mobile site
Set-up | How it works |
|---|---|
Responsive design | The same HTML at the same URL on every device, displayed differently depending on screen size |
Dynamic serving | The same URL, but different HTML served depending on the device |
Separate URLs | Different HTML on separate URLs for each device, often called m-dot sites |
Google recommends responsive design because it's the easiest to implement and maintain. With responsive design, the content and metadata are the same on mobile and desktop, so most of the checks below are already taken care of.
If your site runs on a CMS theme that isn't mobile-friendly and you can't change it, Google suggests looking for a new mobile-friendly theme.
Make sure the content is the same
Indexing comes from the mobile site, so your mobile pages should carry the same primary content as desktop. Google says that if you deliberately show less content on mobile, you can expect some traffic loss.
You can still design the mobile page differently. Google suggests that instead of removing content to save space, you move it into accordions or tabs.
Use the same clear and meaningful headings on mobile as on desktop.
Keep the title element and meta description equivalent on both versions.
Use the same structured data on both versions.
Use the same robots meta tags. A noindex on the mobile version can stop Google indexing the page.
Our guide to title tags explains how to write a good title.
For the description, see our guide to meta descriptions.
Let Google load everything
Google says it won't load content that needs a user interaction, such as swiping, clicking or typing. So don't lazy-load primary content only when someone interacts with the page.
Make sure robots.txt doesn't block the resources the mobile page needs, either. If Google can't crawl them, it can't see the page as a visitor does.
Images and video on mobile
Google's advice for images on mobile pages:
Use high-quality images, not small or low-resolution ones.
Use the same alt text as on desktop.
Use the same titles, captions, file names and nearby text as on desktop.
Don't use image URLs that change every time the page loads.
For video, put it somewhere easy to find on the mobile page. Google notes that it might harm the video's ranking if users need to scroll down too much to find it.
Watch the ads
Google warns against letting ads harm your mobile page ranking, and points to the Better Ads Standard. For example, ads at the top of the page can take up too much room on a phone.
If you have separate mobile URLs
Sites with a separate mobile address need extra care. Google lists several checks, including:
Error pages should match. If the desktop page works but the mobile version is an error page, the page will be missing from the index.
Don't send many desktop pages to the mobile home page. If different URLs redirect to the same mobile page, those pages will be missing from the index.
Verify both versions in Search Console.
How to check your mobile pages
Use the URL Inspection tool in Google Search Console to see how Google renders a page. Google says to check that your content is visible on the rendered page.
Then work through the SEO basics checklist, which also covers page speed.
If you run a local business, our guide on improving your local ranking explains the other half of being found nearby.
What is mobile-first indexing?
It means Google uses the mobile version of a site's content, crawled with its smartphone crawler, for indexing and ranking.
Do I need a separate mobile website?
No. Google recommends responsive design, which serves the same page at the same URL on every device and adjusts the layout to the screen.
Can my mobile site have less content than desktop?
It can, but Google says you can expect some traffic loss, because it gets less information from the page. It suggests using accordions or tabs instead of removing content.
Does content in accordions or tabs count?
Google suggests moving content into accordions or tabs to save space on mobile, instead of removing it. The content needs to be in the page when it loads, because Google won't load content that only appears after a click, swipe or typing.