Why is Mobile SEO Important?

November 29, 2020

Even though Apple is on its 12th version of the iPhone and mobile internet use has been around for 13+ years, it’s importance in the SEO world is still questioned by many. Exactly how it works and how it’s different than the SEO that’s been around since Google launched isn’t always clear. 

Make no doubt about it, mobile SEO is important, and it’s importance grows every year as more people turn to mobile devices for internet access. If you have a website or own a business, it’s in your best interest to make mobile SEO a central part of your marketing strategy. Here’s why.
 

Does a Mobile Site Improve SEO?

In a word, yes. Today, it’s virtually impossible to have first page ranking without a mobile-friendly site that can be crawled by Google without any issues.

Search engines are always taking end users into consideration. Today, people use mobile devices more than desktop computers. As soon as mobile became the primary platform, Google started shifting its signals to give mobile factors more weight. 

So, yes - a mobile-friendly site can improve SEO. Plus, it’s a better experience for users, which is just as good for your bottom line.  

What's the Most Important Reason Why Mobile SEO is Important?

Google has adopted a mobile-first indexing approach for search rankings. In March, Google announced that mobile first indexing is used for the whole web starting in September.

Mobile-first indexing means that Google now uses a smartphone Googlebot to crawl the web. The process of switching to mobile-first from desktop started years ago. Google has been rolling out the change slowly, moving sites as they are deemed ready for mobile-first indexing.

If your site hasn’t been deemed ready for mobile indexing you’ll want to get on top of mobile SEO optimization. When a site is optimized for mobile SEO there will be an increase in smartphone bot crawling. Desktop Googlebot is still around and may be used from time to time, but the smartphone bot is now handling the heavy lifting. 

How to do SEO for a Mobile Website? 

The main thing to remember is that mobile SEO is its own thing. What has worked for years with desktop may not be as effective on a mobile site. There are also strategies that are unique to mobile. So even if you’ve been managing your SEO for a while, if you’re new to mobile SEO there could be a steep learning curve. 

That said, many of the SEO best practices for desktop work for mobile too. Once you have those covered there are a few additional mobile SEO optimization strategies to implement. Make sure to:

  • Make pages load as quickly as possible.
  • Ensure site design is suited for mobile devices. Responsive design configurations are recommended. 
  • Optimize meta tags and titles for a smaller screen size.
  • Prioritize local search.


If you need help with mobile SEO optimization contact SearchRPM. We can provide one-on-one consultations and create a custom strategy to optimize all of your sites. 

Article author

Michael Ramirez is the Founder of SearchRPM, an Austin, TX based search marketing company that’s well-versed in Search Engine Optimization best practices. You can follow Michael Ramirez on Twitter @searchrpm to see what he’s up to next.