Google has shared some further information about mobile-first indexing on Twitter.
1. It is not necessary to have a mobile-friendly website
On requirements: Neither mobile-friendliness nor a mobile-responsive layout are requirements for mobile-first indexing. Pages without mobile versions still work on mobile, and are usable for indexing. That said, it's about time to move from desktop-only and embrace mobile 🙂
— Google Webmasters (@googlewmc) 14. Juni 2018
Although it is not necessary to have a mobile-friendly website to be included in Google’s mobile-first indexing process, websites that aren’t mobile-friendly won’t get high rankings in Google’s mobile results.
2. Google indexes the mobile version, but shows different URLs for desktop and mobile
URLs in search: With Mobile-first indexing, we index the mobile version. When we recognize separate mobile URLs, we'll show the mobile URL to mobile users, and the desktop URL to desktop users – the indexed content will be the mobile version in both cases.
— Google Webmasters (@googlewmc) 14. Juni 2018
The mobile version of a web page will be indexed by Google. If Google detects different URLs for desktop and mobile, the result pages will show the corresponding pages for desktop and mobile search results.
3. The number of crawled pages won’t change
Crawled counts: The total number of crawled URLs/day generally won't change, but the balance will shift from mostly-desktop to mostly-mobile crawls. During a switch-over to mobile-first indexing we may temporarily crawl more as we reindex everything.
— Google Webmasters (@googlewmc) 14. Juni 2018
4. Google says that there won’t be ranking changes
On ranking: The mobile-first index doesn't change anything for ranking other than that the mobile content is used. While mobile-friendliness is a ranking factor on mobile, being in the mobile-first index is not.
— Google Webmasters (@googlewmc) 14. Juni 2018
Of course, the rankings of your web pages can change if your mobile pages are different from your desktop pages. For that reason, it’s a good idea to use responsive web design that uses the same content for all devices.
Being included in Google’s mobile-first index won’t give your website a ranking boost.
5. Google’s speed update is independent from Google’s mobile-first index
Speed and mobile-first indexing: The mobile speed update in July is independent of mobile-first indexing. Fast sites are awesome for users, especially on mobile, since devices & connections there tend to be slower than with desktops.
— Google Webmasters (@googlewmc) 14. Juni 2018
It’s always good to have a fast website. However, the speed of your website does not influence if it will be included in Google’s mobile-first index.
6. It’s okay to use hamburger menus and accordeons
Mobile website UIs: Using "hamburger-menus" and "accordions" on mobile websites is fine.
— Google Webmasters (@googlewmc) 14. Juni 2018
User interface elements that hide the menus until someone clicks the menu icon are fine.
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