Google has just announced that the transition to mobile-first indexing is now completely complete.
Mobile-first indexing itself was first initiated by Google in November 2016.
This means that it took Google approximately seven years to complete the transition from using desktop crawlers to mobile crawlers.
A Look at Mobile-First Indexing
Simply put, mobile-first indexing is Google's process of crawling, indexing and ranking which prioritizes the mobile version of a website, compared to the desktop version.
The implementation of mobile-first indexing is a change in practice by Google, where previously they used the desktop version of the website to carry out the crawling and indexing process.
Google's decision to switch to mobile-first was driven by the fact that increasingly, more people are accessing the internet using mobile devices rather than their desktops.
So to provide more relevant search results for users who mostly use smartphones, Google started the transition to mobile-first indexing.
Googlebot Desktop Crawler Still Used for a Small Number of Websites
Apart from announcing that the transition process has been completed, Google also announced that currently they still find a small number of websites that do not function well on mobile devices.
So, Google cannot force them to continue using their Googlebot-mobile to crawl the website.
So for a small portion of these websites, Google will continue to use the Googlebot desktop crawler to carry out the crawling and indexing process.
Changes to Google Search Console
Along with this transition, crawler indexing information in Google Search Console will be disabled.
Because in the future all websites that function on mobile devices will be crawled using a mobile crawler, according to Google, this information column will no longer be relevant.
With the transition to mobile-first indexing complete, ensuring your website can appear and function well on mobile devices has become increasingly important.
Google itself has provided special guidance on how to ensure your website is mobile-friendly. Friends, you can read this guide directly here: