Google Pushes Mobile-First Indexing to March 2021
- Recently Google released a statement in which they prolong the deadline of the mobile-first indexing switchover. Initially, they set the deadline for September 2020, but now it has been pushed to March 2021.
- In March this year, right before we got hit by the pandemic, Google announced that they’ll be switching to mobile-first indexing starting from September 2020.
- Google made another announcement saying they realize that it’s not that easy to focus on business in these uncertain times. So they have decided to postpone it to the end of March 2021.
- At the same time, it is noteworthy that most websites have already done their homework and have shifted towards mobile-indexing first. Many webmasters, developers, and SEOs made the necessary adjustments on their websites.
- As a result, more than 70% of all websites within Google’s reach have already moved to mobile-first indexing. That way, the percentage is even bigger these days.
How to check if your website is ready for mobile-indexing first?
- To check that, you need to head to your account at Google’s Search Console. In case your website still not moved over, here are some potential issues that might be holding it back from an automatic migration:
- The mobile version loads very slowly.
- Your main content is identical both on your mobile and desktop version.
- You’ve blocked something you shouldn’t.
- Issues with your mobile robot meta tags
- Double-check video and images for their quality, image and video placement, differences between URLs for mobile and desktop versions, and so on.
In Conclusion
- Even if your site has issues that prevent it from being switched to mobile-first indexing, there isn’t something to worry about.
- It is no longer necessary to prepare your website by September 2020. You can also ensure that your ranking won’t take a hit because of the mobile-first indexing switch.
- If your website can use some adjustments, don’t wait till the deadline and risk its ranking.
