Fewer links on mobile: a mobile-first indexing risk

What it means

The mobile version of the site has significantly fewer internal links than the desktop version, meaning some pages reachable from desktop are not linked from mobile. This usually happens when mobile uses accordions or tabs that collapse content, or when links are added dynamically by JavaScript after the initial HTML loads.

Why it matters

Google indexes and ranks using the mobile version, and only content present on mobile is used for ranking. Fewer internal links on mobile mean weaker internal link equity distribution, which can slow discovery of new pages and reduce the ranking signals that flow through them. AI agents that crawl like Googlebot also rely on the same mobile HTML, so they may miss pages that exist but are not linked.

How to fix it

1. Ensure content parity between mobile and desktop — the same primary content, headings, and internal links should appear on both versions.
2. Check that links in accordions and tabs are present in the initial HTML rather than added only after user interaction.
3. Verify that the mobile version does not dynamically remove links via JavaScript; use URL Inspection to confirm rendered HTML includes them.
4. If using responsive design, confirm the same robots meta tag and canonical tags are present on both versions.

When it's not a problem

This is acceptable when the mobile version uses accordions or tabs to save space, as long as the same content and links are present in the initial HTML. It is also fine when the mobile version is intentionally lean with fewer pages, provided the most important pages and top-level navigation remain linked.

How common is it?

Not yet observed in our audit sample. We publish this explainer because the check runs on every crawl; once an audited site trips it, this page will break the issue down by platform, gatekeeper, vertical and country.

Related guides

• Mobile-First Indexing: How to Pass Parity Checks