Search on Smartphones Up 26 Percent!
There are now a staggering 113.1 million people searching the web on their mobile devices. That’s up 26 percent from last year’s 90.1 million. People searching online via mobile device users are leaving desktop users in the dust, by about 6 percent. That alone should be enough incentive for a business owner to reconsidering their websites design!
A recent survey by Neustar Localeze/15miles/comScore Local Search Study involved the searching habits of more than 3,000 adults in the U.S. The goal of the study was to investigate how people searched for local business information, what information they found useful and on what devices they were most frequently using to search.
Already mentioned, searches for local business are more commonly done using a mobile device than a desktop. From 2011 to 2012, there was an 18 percent drop in local business searches done on desktops. Also steadily declining is the use of the yellow pages for business information- a number that is consistently decreasing with each year.
So how are people getting their local business information? According to the study, it’s primarily through Portal Sites: Google, Bing, Yahoo and others. 69 percent of those surveyed choose to get information through a portal site rather than IYP or Local Search Sites- sites such as SuperPages.com and Citysearch, respectively.
As a business owner, these stats should be a wakeup call to take a second look at your website! Mobile device users are looking for directions, distances and maps, while tablet users are more interested in content. People are continuing to drift away from searching local business on a desktop. This is driving a change in website design, appearance and content.
Bottom line: to stay with the times, keep your business’s information accessible and visible to the growing number of mobile users! Please contact Website Growth for more information on how to make your site phone friendly (866)543-5885