What is mobile-first indexing?

The plain definition

Mobile-first indexing means that Google mainly looks at the mobile version of your pages when it decides how to list them. If your phone version has less content, hidden text or missing links compared with the desktop version, that is what Google sees.

An example

A restaurant’s desktop site shows the full menu and an address. The phone version shows only a logo and a button, because a developer hid the rest to save space. Google bases its view on the phone page, so the menu and address are effectively missing.

Why it matters for a local business

Most local searches happen on phones, so this matches how customers behave. Use one site that adapts to all screens, keep the same content and links on every size, make buttons easy to tap, and put your phone number and address where they can be found without hunting.

Check it for free

See where you stand with the free website speed test. If you would rather have it handled, our Websites service covers this as part of the monthly work.

Related terms

• Core Web Vitals
• Crawling
• Indexing

Part of the SEO glossary. New to all this? Start with the beginner’s SEO guide.