It's official, Google has shaken things up again -just like they did years back when they first "suggested" websites should be responsive (so they look great on any device). This time they are announcing mobile first indexing.
Today we’re announcing that after a year-and-a-half of careful experimentation and testing, we’ve started migrating sites that follow the best practices for mobile-first indexing.
If you are a web designer, developer or a firm that does both, this should be absolutely no surprise to you. In fact, preparations for this update should have been in progress for many years. Google outlined how to get ready for this in December of 2017...but, as mentioned, the wheels have been put in motion for this well before that. Many variations of this page existed in their webmaster blog since early 2014. Guidelines, such as how to code to make sure Googlebot can access all necessary files, have been clearly spelled out, such as:
Important: Be sure not to block the crawling of any page assets (CSS, JavaScript, and images) for any Googlebot using robots.txt or other methods. Being able to fully access these external files will help our algorithms detect your site's responsive web design configuration and treat it appropriately.
Front9's logo in an example responsive scenario
So, What Now?
It's obvious, any company who is responsible for creating websites needs to continue to improve upon and enhance the experience for mobile users. This was never a trend. More and more people rely on their smartphones to surf the web.
At Front9 Agency, we are dedicated to creating a web presence for every client that includes mobile-first thinking. This also extends well beyond websites. We also strive to make the web better overall.
In 2018 and beyond, websites are becoming less of a central focus and more of an important piece of a much greater overall package necessary for online success. - Front9 Agency
With this in mind...
More and more of our time is invested in chatbot and AI (artificial intelligence) development - along with machine learning. We're excited to bring this incredible technology to you.
IN THE COMING WEEKS, we will be launching our very own chatbot in partnership with a start-up we are helping create. Please feel free to visit their website and learn more about this incredible technology at ChatbotConcierge.com along with following them on social media:
