Mobile-first indexing is here but how does it affect you?

Mobile-first indexing is here but how does it affect you?

25th July 2019

Users are increasingly using mobile devices to access the internet and find specific websites. With mobile usage surpassing desktop usage in 2016 it became hard to not take note and change the way we design and develop websites. Designers have had to shift the way they think about design to now focus on those with smaller screens. As of July 1st, 2019 Google has now started to index all new websites with its smartphone Googlebot.

What is mobile-first indexing?

Originally when a user typed in their search term Google would crawl a websites desktop version to see if it was relevant to be shown. As the desktop version was considered primary it meant that it would be prioritized by SEO and treated as the most complete site. However, now it is the mobile version of your website that becomes the starting point for Google’s baseline for how they determine rankings.

Don’t worry though, it isn’t a mobile-only index, hence why it is called “mobile-first”. If a website doesn’t have a mobile-friendly version the desktop one will still be included. Unfortunately, this does mean that it will probably have a negative effect on the rankings of that website.

What do you need to do

Google have their own guidance on this subject. If your website is already responsive or equivalent across both desktop and mobile you probably won’t need to do anything. Depending on the state of your current mobile site, depends how much you need to do to ensure you aren’t ranking too low. Things like mobile site speed and good UX for customers matter more than ever!

Responsive Design

If your website isn’t responsive then why not? Its 2019 people! This is the most important thing you need to have if you want to rank highly on the mobile-first index. The reason these websites rank so highly is that the design changes to fit the relevant screen – giving us the best of both worlds.

Optimized content

Your content may look great on desktop. But does it look so great on the mobile version? Long paragraphs of copy without frequent images breaks can be daunting to mobile users. Audio and video content also works particularly well on a mobile environment.

Don’t let your desktop focussed website stop you from ranking well. Mobile-first indexing is here to stay. Now is the time to make sure your website is the best it can be. And if you need any help with that get in touch! At Bopgun we’ve been making responsive websites for as long as we can remember! studio@bopgun.com     +44 (0) 1225 351715

Privacy Policy

This website is operated by Bopgun and whose registered address is Unit 4 Corum 2 Crown Way, Warmley, Bristol, England, BS30 8FJ (“We”) are committed to protecting and preserving the privacy of our visitors when visiting our site or communicating electronically with us.

This policy sets out how we process any personal data we collect from you or that you provide to us through our website. We confirm that we will keep your information secure and that we will comply fully with all applicable UK Data Protection legislation and regulations. Please read the following carefully to understand what happens to personal data that you choose to provide to us, or that we collect from you when you visit this site. By visiting bopgun.com (our website) you are accepting and consenting to the practices described in this policy.

Types of information we may collect from you

We may collect, store and use the following kinds of personal information about individuals who visit and use our website:

Information you supply to us

You may supply us with information about you by filling in forms on our website. This includes information you provide when you submit a contact/enquiry form. The information you give us may include your name, address, e-mail address and phone number.

Information our website automatically collects about you

With regard to each of your visits to our website we may automatically collect information including the following:

  • technical information, including a truncated and anonymised version of your Internet protocol (IP) address, browser type and version, operating system and platform;
  • information about your visit, including what pages you visit, how long you are on the site, how you got to the site (including date and time); page response times, length of visit, what you click on, documents downloaded and download errors.

Cookies

Our website uses cookies to distinguish you from other users of our website. This helps us to provide you with a good experience when you browse our website and also allows us to improve our site. For detailed information on the cookies we use and the purposes for which we use them see our Cookie Policy.

How we may use the information we collect

We use the information in the following ways:

Information you supply to us. We will use this information:

to provide you with information and/or services that you request from us;

Information we automatically collect about you. We will use this information:

  • to administer our site including troubleshooting and statistical purposes;
  • to improve our site to ensure that content is presented in the most effective manner for you and for your computer;
  • security and debugging as part of our efforts to keep our site safe and secure.

This information is collected anonymously and is not linked to information that identifies you as an individual. We use Google Analytics to track this information. Find out how Google uses your data at https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/6004245?hl=en.

Disclosure of your information

Any information you provide to us will either be emailed directly to us or may be stored on a secure server located in London. We use a trusted third party website and hosting provider (AWS) to facilitate the running and management of this website. AWS meet high data protection and security standards and are bound by contract to keep any information they process on our behalf confidential. Any data that may be collected through this website that we process, is kept secure and only processed in the manner we instruct them to. AWS cannot access, provide, rectify or delete any data that they store on our behalf without permission.

We do not rent, sell or share personal information about you with other people or non-affiliated companies.

We will use all reasonable efforts to ensure that your personal data is not disclosed to regional/national institutions and authorities, unless required by law or other regulations.

Unfortunately, the transmission of information via the internet is not completely secure. Although we will do our best to protect your personal data, we cannot guarantee the security of your data transmitted to our site; any transmission is at your own risk. Once we have received your information, we will use strict procedures and security features to try to prevent unauthorised access.

Third party links

Our site may, from time to time, contain links to and from the third party websites. If you follow a link to any of these websites, please note that these websites have their own privacy policies and that we do not accept any responsibility or liability for these policies. Please check these policies before you submit any personal data to these websites.

Your rights – access to your personal data

You have the right to ensure that your personal data is being processed lawfully (“Subject Access Right”). Your subject access right can be exercised in accordance with data protection laws and regulations. Any subject access request must be made in writing to Data Controller, Bopgun Design, Studio 12a Greenway Farm, Bath Road, Wick, Bristol BS30 5RL. We will provide your personal data to you within the statutory time frames. To enable us to trace any of your personal data that we may be holding, we may need to request further information from you. If you have a complaint about how we have used your information, you have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).

Changes to our privacy policy

Any changes we may make to our privacy policy in the future will be posted on this page and, where appropriate, notified to you by e-mail. Please check back frequently to see any updates or changes to our privacy policy.

Contact

Questions, comments and requests regarding this privacy policy are welcomed and should be addressed to studio@bopgun.com.