In a few weeks, Google will make a major update to their mobile search algorithm. While this mostly boils down to which pages get the mobile friendly” label, it hasn’t stopped some marketing sites from using terminology like “Mobilegeddon” to describe the update, which is, needless to say, more than a little alarmist. Getting the mobile friendly label is important for websites that want their pages to be popular with searchers on smart phones and tablets, which is something almost every sites should want. Google’s efforts to get people to make more mobile-friendly sites are good for businesses because it encourages them to align their sites with current user preferences. Here are nine recent stats about mobile marketing that shows why it’s worth the effort to get the mobile friendly label.
According to a recent study by comScore, smartphones account for 20% of all search activity, and tablets make up another 9%. This means about one in three visitors to a website come from mobile devices.
The same study also showed that people use their mobile devices to watch online videos. About 48% of tablet owners and 46% of smartphone owners
Mobile owners use their devices often to watch videos. About 10% of tablet owners and 9% of smartphone users watch videos on their devices every day.
There are more people who switch between desktops and mobile devices during the day. comScore reported that approximately 75% of online adults access the internet through both desktop and mobile platforms. This is up from 68% in 2014.
The National Retail Federation reported that 24.9% of Americans who own tablets and will celebrate Easter in 2015 will use their devices to research products or compare prices, and 16.6% will purchase items with their tablets.
The cyber Easter Egg hunt continues on mobile. NRF estimates that 21.4% of Americans who own smartphones and will celebrate Easter in 2015 will use their phones to research products or compare prices, and 13.5% will purchase items with their phones.
Mobile friendly websites are a necessity for people targeting teens. According to Nielsen, 80% of US teens 14-17 own smartphones and more than 90% of them use them to watch videos and search the web online.
A report from L2 showed that 69% of worldwide consumers aged 18 to 39 in households with incomes between $75,000 and $99,000 research products on smartphones, while 44% did so with tablets.
Over 40% of all the time spent watching TV online happens on mobile devices. According to comScore, 31% of time spent watching TV online takes place via smartphones and 12% happens on tablets.
Mobile devices have become very important for people looking to buy products or entertain themselves online. These stats show that businesses that ignore mobile users do so at their own peril. This brings us back to the point about Google’s planned update to the mobile algorithm. Having a site with pages that meet Google’s mobile friendliness requirement is good for a business in the long run.
For more information on the value of mobile devices for marketing, read this article on millennials, mobiles and the future of business.