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Mobile-first indexing was the talk of 2018 in the SEO world, and of course this major shift in how Google search works has left SEOs with questions about what will result. I’ve read a lot of posts about mobile first and predictions about how, if at all, this will change how sites will appear in search results. It is important, however, when discussing any type of Google update to remember the basics of search indexing and ranking, and this knowledge is particularly applicable to mobile first indexing.

A few years ago, Google had a big microsite called “how Google works”. It was so well presented that I took screenshots of the site to share with others in the workshops. The latest version is called how search works, and I’ll include screenshots of that here. There are two main tasks that search engines perform: indexing and ranking.

Indexing is the reading and storing of information on a web page by a robot-indexing search engine (in this case GoogleBot). Once Google visits and reads a page, it stores that information in its index. I like to think of the index as a huge library, like the Jedi Library from Star wars.

Ranking is the process by which a search engine evaluates information in its index and determines which web pages meet its criteria according to search query and other factors (such as device). However, a site cannot be ranked if it is not already indexed. Rank like a librarian by providing recommendations based on your criteria.

I believe it’s common that articles will mix indexations versus rating factors, and it’s important to remember that these are two different things entirely. Ultimately, indexing is the Foundation. If you don’t have an indexed page, then it can’t be ranked.

The mobile first index of the indexing address is not a rating. While mobile first represents a major shift for Google and how it traditionally indexed web pages, this does not necessarily mean that much will change for many websites. All Google does is change which version of the web page content it is indexing, preferring to index the mobile version first.

If we remember how indexing works, remember that indexing is just about reading and storing information. Then what is the problem with indexing into the first mobile program? If the mobile version of the web page content is not the same as the web version, you may encounter some problems.

For many sites, such as most sites using responsive web design, there will be no problems at all because the content on the mobile and desktop versions is probably the same. The problem occurs when a web page has different content in the mobile version than in the desktop version, and usually for reasons of size and space, this means that there is less content in the mobile version. If the content that is not available on the mobile phone contains some important rating signals, then this page may be lower.

Here’s how it works: Let’s imagine a scenario where your mobile content doesn’t match the desktop content. Perhaps your organization has decided to make mobile content shorter than its desktop counterpart, assuming mobile visitors don’t want to scroll through a lot of content. In mobile-first indexing, the indexing is indexed to the mobile version instead of the desktop version; thus, the shorter form content in the mobile version is indexed compared to the longer form content on the desktop version.

Now, for both desktop and mobile search results, Google bases its decisions on the content available to it in its library (index), which is the short form of the mobile version. Google’s ranking coefficients will be applied to this version of the shorter form. The shorter form version may not be as valuable in Google’s assessment, and therefore your ranking may pay off.

I recently read an SEO statement that once the mobile first index is fully deployed, the desktop and mobile rankings will be the same. This is definitely not true.

Remember that ranking and indexing are separate things, each with separate goals, goals, and factors. Just because Google is changing how it indexes, it doesn’t mean Google is changing how it ranks websites, either.

Currently, Google’s organic rankings do differ based on whether the query is made on a mobile device or from desktop. In part, that is due to specific Google ranking factors and penalties that exist for mobile results, such as the intrusive interstitial penalty and the mobile page speed ranking factor. That’s not likely to change with mobile-first indexing, as those penalties/factors affect ranking, not indexing. And there’s a whole host of other factors that also can affect rankings differently on desktop versus mobile that are not likely going away or being applied differently because of a new indexing model.

Thinking about SEO and factors, go back to basics: indexing and ranking. Be sure not to mix the two because each has a specific function, purpose and impact on your site and how you appear in search results.

Here’s an old-school YouTube video featuring Matt Cutts that goes into this more deeply if you’re interested:

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the guest author and are not necessarily those of Search Engine Land. Staff writers are listed here.

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