Are We a Smartphone Society? The Increasing Importance of Mobile Marketing

Are you addicted to your iPhone? Perhaps you carry your smartphone with you everywhere you go? We bet you’re reading this on your phone right now! But don’t worry, you’re not alone. The latest figures released by Ofcom have revealed the UK is a ‘smartphone society’ and the rise of the mobile is only set to increase.

Here we take a look at the latest stats on smartphone internet use and what that could mean for your business’ website:

According to the independent regulator, Ofcom, two thirds of people now own a smartphone and the average user spends 2 hours every day using their phone to browse and buy on the internet, as well as interacting through social media sites.

The average person now spends twice as long online using their smartphone than on laptops or PCs.

Ofcom also claims that the most popular device to access the internet is a smartphone. 33% of those surveyed said their phone was the most important device for internet use, compared to 33% who said they prefer their laptop.

Back in 2014, just 22% chose their smartphone, whereas 40% preferred their laptop, showing smartphones are more popular than ever!

Lastly, Ofcom took a closer look at the user demographic of smartphones. According to its research two thirds of us now have our smartphones in our pockets every day, up 27% in just one year.

90% of 16 to 24 year olds own a smartphone and the number of users between 55 and 64 years of age has more than doubled since 2012, from 19% to 50%.

So, why the sudden rise of the smartphone? Well, it could be due to the introduction of fast and easy-to-access 4G across most of the UK’s major cities. In 2014, 4G subscriptions rose from 2.7million to 23.6million. And what better way to use this internet on the move, than on your very own smartphone?

More than three months have now passed since the expected downfall of many sites thanks to the release of ‘Mobilegeddon’, and with the rise of the smartphone, ensuring your business website is optimised for mobile search is more important than ever.

Okay, we’ll admit it, now surveying the aftermath, the event didn’t quite live up to the name. Compared to other Google updates the effects have been minimal as, according to Moz, two thirds of websites were already mobile-friendly. However, this doesn’t mean it hasn’t shaken the boat at all.

The worst affected sites did not have mobile-responsive homepages and saw their SERP rankings plummet, whereas those that were responsive and optimised for search saw mostly positive effects, such as a slight rise in rankings.

So, who were the big names that felt the pinch? Vogue and Reddit were affected, but the majority of those who took a hit were SMEs who could not devote the time or money to updating their websites.

If you were one of those affected or you simply want to optimise your site for mobile search to improve your organic traffic, speak to us today. Before you put that phone back in your pocket, scroll up to the top of this page and click the big phone icon or alternatively scroll to the bottom and save our number for another day.