Mobile-First Indexing
The principle by which Google uses the mobile version of a site for indexing and ranking.
In brief
Mobile-First Indexing (MFI) is Google’s approach where the mobile version of a page is used by default for indexing and ranking. If content, structure, or markup is available only on the desktop version, it may be ignored. This makes responsiveness and mobile quality critically important.
What is Mobile-First Indexing
Google by default crawls and indexes the mobile version of a page. Content, links, and structured data from the desktop version are ignored if not present on mobile. This doesn’t mean the desktop version is unnecessary, but the mobile version becomes primary.
Best practices
- Responsive design — the preferred option
- If using a separate mobile subdomain/URL, ensure it has the same content and structure
- No desktop‑only hidden content — this may be considered cloaking
- Core Web Vitals and mobile page speed directly affect rankings
If the mobile version contains significantly less text than the desktop version, Google may consider that you are hiding content, harming your rankings.
FAQ
Common questions
In Google Search Console → Settings → Crawl activity → Crawling, it will indicate whether your site is crawled as mobile.
Yes. Main content (text, images, links) must be the same. Secondary elements can be reduced, but not ranking‑critical text.
If no mobile version exists, Google uses the desktop version but assumes it is potentially user‑unfriendly. Such sites may rank worse.
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