What does Google read when it indexes your site?
The phone version. Google calls this mobile-first indexing: it uses the mobile version of a site's content, crawled with its smartphone crawler, for indexing and ranking (Google Search Central). So check the mobile version, not only the page you see at your desk.
The question is whether the page a phone receives says everything you meant your site to say. If the phone page is missing a service, a town or a heading, Google is missing it as well.
Can a site with no mobile version still show up?
Google says yes: a mobile version is not required to appear in results, and in the same breath it says one is very strongly recommended (Google Search Central). A site without one can still appear, and Google is telling you plainly to have one.
The simplest mobile version is no separate version at all. Google recommends responsive design, where the same HTML at the same address is shown to fit each screen, and calls it the easiest to build and maintain (Google Search Central).
The viewport meta tag is one line in the head of a page, and E5 in our free scan looks for it on your homepage. If your site fails that check, add the tag and then look at the layout on a phone.
Does the phone version have to say everything the desktop one does?
Yes. Google asks for the same content on the mobile version as on the desktop one, and warns that a thinner mobile page can lose traffic. Where a long page feels too long on a phone, Google suggests accordions or tabs rather than removing content (Google Search Central). Fold the text away, but keep it.
The match goes past the paragraphs. Google says the mobile version should carry the same headings, structured data, titles, meta descriptions and alt text as the desktop one (Google Search Central). Compare the text and the headings on a real phone, with the desktop page beside it. The title tag, meta description, structured data and alt text do not show on the screen, so read them in the page source, or ask whoever built the site whether they match. Here is the list, page by page:
- The text itself: every service, town and paragraph on the desktop page is on the phone page too.
- The headings: the same ones on both.
- The title tag: the same one on both.
- The meta description: the same one on both.
- The structured data: present on the phone page, not only the desktop one.
- The alt text on your images, so the phone page describes them the same way.
What about content that loads when someone taps?
It may never reach Google. Google says it does not load content that needs a swipe, a click or typing before it loads, and that primary content should not be lazy-loaded on interaction (Google Search Central). A service list that loads only after a tap on "Read more" is, to Google, not there.
This is the line between a good accordion and a bad one. Put the text in the page when it arrives, and let the tap only reveal it. If you cannot tell which kind your site uses, ask whoever built it that exact question.
What does the free scan check that matters on a phone?
Five things, each by a plain rule. On the homepage, E5 looks for a viewport meta tag and V1 looks for a tel: link, the kind a phone visitor can tap to call. Three speed checks read real-visitor figures: E1 fires when Largest Contentful Paint at the 75th percentile is over 2.5 seconds, E2 when Interaction to Next Paint at the 75th percentile is over 200 milliseconds, and E3 when Cumulative Layout Shift at the 75th percentile is over 0.1.
Those figures come from Google's Chrome UX Report when your site has enough traffic to be in it; otherwise the scan shows a single lab test, labeled as one, with no reading for E2 (how the scan works). The scan reads each page as your server sends it and runs none of its scripts, and it does not compare your phone and desktop versions. The checklist above is yours to run.
What should you do if your site fails on a phone?
Sort what failed. A missing viewport tag, a missing tel: link or a slow speed reading is a fix to the site you have, the kind of technical SEO finding the scan reports. Fix Sprint is up to 12 hours of the fixes your scan found, shipped in 10 business days with before and after evidence.
A site that sends phones a thinner page, or whose main text arrives only after a tap, is a design problem. Website build is a fast, conversion-first site with redirects, structured data and speed work, built on your own accounts. Either way, the test at the end is the same: run the six checks above on each page.
Comparing your phone and desktop pages, counted
Here is the time the checklist takes for a small site, checked twice a year. The counts and minutes are made-up round numbers for the example, so put in your own.
- Pages to compare: the homepage, three service pages and the contact page
- 5
- Things to compare on each page: text, headings, title tag, meta description, structured data, alt text
- 6
- Minutes per page, on a phone and in the page source
- 6
- One pass
- 5 pages at 6 minutes each: 30 minutes
- Total
- 2 passes a year: 60 minutes, one hour a year
One hour a year, in two sittings of half an hour. Each page you add puts 6 minutes on a pass and 12 minutes on the year.
The check finds the gap. Closing it is work on the site and is not in the hour, so note what failed on each page and hand the list to whoever maintains it.
Round numbers for the arithmetic, not a benchmark and not a forecast. Put in your own.
Questions
Should my site have a separate address for phones?
Google recommends responsive design instead, the same HTML at the same address shown to fit each screen, and calls it the easiest to build and maintain (Google Search Central). A separate phone address leaves you two versions to keep matching, and Google reads the phone one.
Can I shorten my pages on phones so they load faster?
Shorten how they look, not what they carry. Google warns that a thinner mobile page can lose traffic, and suggests accordions or tabs rather than removing content (Google Search Central). Keep the text in the page and fold it away.
My designer says the site is mobile friendly. What should I check?
Six things should match the desktop page: the text, the headings, the title tag, the meta description, the structured data and the alt text (Google Search Central). Check the text and the headings on a real phone; the other four do not show on the screen, so read them in the page source or ask whoever built the site. Then tap anything marked "Read more" and ask whether that text was in the page before the tap.
Does the free scan tell me whether my site works on a phone?
Only part of it. It looks for a viewport meta tag and a tel: link on your homepage, and reads real-visitor speed figures when Google has them for your site (how the scan works). It does not lay the page out on a phone or compare the two versions, so keep the checklist for that.