As is well known, Google has been switching its index to mobile-first for some time now. The index remains the same, but the Googlebot now visits more and more pages with the “eyes” of an average smartphone.
Google is making the change slowly and carefully. If your website is still optimized exclusively for the desktop, you don't have to worry about suddenly no longer being found on Google. However, it is of course advantageous if your website also looks good on smartphones. Often, you can achieve something with just a few targeted adjustments.
Responsive Design
Responsive design means that the layout of a page adapts to the rcs data greece size of the screen. The main factor here is the width of the screen. This ensures that you don't need a magnifying glass when viewing the page on a smartphone and that the space on the screen is used optimally on a desktop.
You can test the mobile display of your pages on your own smartphone. But does Googlebot see these pages the same way? Find out! In the Search Console, you can have your pages rendered under "Fetch as Google". This will show you whether Google recognizes them the way you want them to. It is important to know that Googlebot looks at pages through the eyes of an average smartphone. Its virtual screen size can therefore be larger or smaller than that of your own smartphone.
Not everyone who surfs the Internet has a fast connection. Especially in rural Germany, the Internet connection often leaves a lot to be desired, even in 2019. But even those who are on the move and go online via mobile do not always have a good transfer rate. For this reason, make sure that your page loads quickly even with slower connections. Ensure good image compression. Remove scripts and CSS instructions that are not needed and reduce their size as much as possible.
If your website is offered as a separate desktop and mobile version, make sure that • your canonical and alternate tags point to the mobile version, • the same content can be found on both versions, • the same structured data can be found on both versions and • the mobile version is entered in the Google Search Console alongside the desktop version.