Remember Mobilegeddon?
If you own or operate a website, Google’s website update of April 2015, will not have passed you by. You may remember it was headline news, with even SKY News and the BBC carrying the story of so-called Mobilegeddon and mobile friendly websites. We were told it was going to be the biggest update in a very long time and anyone without a mobile friendly website, could expect to see a significant (negative) impact on the organic traffic they received from mobile devices.
You may also remember the immediate aftermath did not quite live up to the hype. Yes non mobile sites were penalised in [mobile] search results, but the world did not quite end for them. What did happen for sure, was that many business owners did sit up and listen and invest resources in making ‘mobile friendly websites’.
This was all for the greater good. Mobile use continues to grow, now with more people accessing the internet on a smart phone rather than a desktop. So regardless of Google, websites that work well on mobile will continue to out-perform those that are not.
This post summarises current mobile usage and search trends in Ireland. It underlines the significant change in how people are accessing the internet and searching for information online and what this might mean for a business with a website.
Mobile Internet Usage In Ireland
According to a report by StatCounter people in Ireland use the internet on their mobile phone, more than any other country in the Western World. Phone internet usage has eclipsed the UK and the USA being a quarter and 10% higher respectively. Around one third of all internet search is now performed on a mobile device in Ireland.
Desktop on the other hand has seem significant decline, falling from 77% to 56% in the last two years. It is expected later this year, mobiles will overtake desktops as device-of-choice for internet browsing.
The Irish Examiner reports the startling statistic that 97% of under 25 year olds have a smartphone. This drops to 47% for the over 55s, however the facts are stark, the Irish population are continuing to embrace mobile internet usage.
Using Google’s consumer barometer and looking at the population as a whole, 84% of Irish people access the internet every day and 60% use a smartphone just as often as desktop computer.
So your website’s mobile friendly, what now?
Well done, if you have a mobile friendly site. If you do not, you are most likely missing out on people visiting your website, engaging with your content and converting to leads and customers. But having a mobile site is not the be-all and end
Your site may tick Google’s box of being mobile friendly, however are you delivering mobile content effectively? In your advertising strategy, are your AdWords optimised for mobile devices? Are you using the correct size mobile banners? And as important as ever, are you analysing your mobile traffic looking at how your mobile visitors engage and making proactive changes to driver better interaction and conversion.
The next post on mobile friendly websites…
Next week we will delve into implementing a mobile marketing strategy in more detail, looking at what is required to deliver a robust and effective strategy that will help you achieve your overall digital marketing goals.
Want to know more about Mobile Marketing? SWOT Digital have proven experience in developing strategies that drive targeted traffic to clients websites across a range of verticals. Contact us today.
