In a Google Webmaster Hangout, someone inquired about the rearrangement of content from desktop to mobile and its impact once Google transitions to mobile-first indexing.
The Reasonable Surfer patent from Google, which deals with how many links are followed before Google exits a site, was mentioned briefly. However, John Mueller from Google didn’t address this part, possibly due to the general nature of the question.
Mueller did provide valuable insights on the secondary effects involving user experience and its influence on SEO.
Here is the question that was raised:
"If content is the same on mobile and desktop but appears disorganized on mobile, will it still be considered equivalent? Would you still index a mobile site if it looked messy? Obviously, Googlebot won’t say, ‘this looks a mess.’ But if someone arrives at pages and they appear disorganized, even with the same content, that’s a negative user experience, right? What if on the desktop there is a sidebar with related searches, but on mobile, it moves down below the viewport due to break points? That impacts the user experience, doesn’t it?"
Mueller didn’t specify how Google would index such a site, perhaps because the answer cannot be generalized.
He did mention the potential absence of a mobile-friendly boost for such sites. It would be intriguing to learn more about the scenarios where mobile-friendly boosts aren’t applied in future hangouts.
John Mueller’s response:
"I think the user side would see a bigger effect than the SEO side in cases like that. The user side is critical because if users cannot interact with your content, they won’t recommend it or convert, rendering all technical SEO efforts ineffective."
"So you must consider both sides—ensuring technical aspects are correct and providing a good user experience, to create positive secondary effects."
What to Do with Sidebar Content?
The question highlighted that sidebar content might work on a desktop but not on mobile. Many sectors now prioritize a mobile-first model, suggesting that traditional sidebar content might need reevaluation regarding mobile display.
Related posts may need to be relocated to the bottom of mobile-first pages. Newsletter sign-ups and call-to-action elements might also need incorporation within the main body of content. Transitioning the focus from desktop views to mobile-first circumstances is a significant consideration.
Sticky Footer Menus
Sticky footer menus enhance user experience by prominently displaying important navigation elements at the bottom of the viewport, aiding accessibility on lengthy mobile pages.
Although briefly mentioned, John Mueller didn’t address sticky footer menus directly. To accurately respond, examining the source code would be necessary to understand Googlebot’s page interpretation. Perhaps this topic will be explored in a future webmaster hangout.
Images by Shutterstock, Modified by Author
