Mobile and desktop Google search results vary wildly

The results of Google searches on desktop and mobile devices vary significantly, with only 13% of sites retaining the same position across both categories, according to SEMrush.

The search engine optimisation and marketing analytics company conducted a study into web address and domain position differences for 50,000 random keywords across desktop and mobile Google searches.

The research found that 30% of pages that are present on the first page of desktop search results fall off the front page and beyond the top 10 results during mobile searches. Almost 26% lost their visibility in the top 30 results, and almost a quarter lost their top 100 rankings.

But with consumers increasingly demonstrating a preference for using mobile devices to search online, Google is now predominantly using the mobile version of content for indexing and ranking searches. Research shows that over half of global web pages were served to mobile phones in 2018.

Harry Sanders, Director and Head of Search at search engine optimisation agency STUDIOHAWK, said the research should serve as a wake-up call demonstrating the importance of optimising content for mobile users.

“Thinking ‘mobile first’ is still something a lot of people are adjusting to,” he said.

Optimisation for mobile involves factors including ensuring fast load speed and responsiveness and scaling images for smaller screens, according to Jeremy Cabral, COO at Australian comparison website Finder.com.au.

“Marketers, web developers or anyone with a website need to think beyond just a mobile-friendly design and to optimise for the very short time and attention you have from your customer as they visit your website on their phone.”

Image credit: ©stock.adobe.com/au/daviles

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