What Happens in a Mobile Minute

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What happens on Google, Amazon, Facebook and other sites in an Internet minute

By 2016 there were more than 3bn smartphones in use around the world, with the number forecast to grow to 6.8bn by 2020. And current trends point to 26 billion connected devices within the next 3-years, with many of those being mobile.

It is quite noticeable how we are transitioning from using a smartphone as a complementary device to computers, to computers being complementary to smartphones. Searches, communication, and online shopping are all now mainly being done on smartphones, with computers reserved for specialised tasks. And with this comes a shift in behaviour.

A Facebook IQ study in 2016 found that participants who viewed a video on a smartphone estimated the length to be 30% shorter than those who viewed it on a desktop. The same study also found that smartphone users convert to buyers faster than desktop users, while also viewing fewer products. And the strategy of businesses, both big and small, needs to adapt to accommodate this shift.

Back in 2013, Intel published an infographic showing what happened in an internet minute. So much has changed in four short years, that the infographic now looks rather twee.

In 2013, 2-million Google searches happened every minute, but that number is now reached in 30-seconds. On mobile devices only. Similarly, it took YouTube one minute to rack up 1.3m video views in 2013, but now Facebook alone accounts for more than 2m video views in a minute, only on mobile devices.

Which begs the question, “how do businesses adapt their strategy?”

While the actual strategy and approach will differ from one business to the next, the gist of it will be to not ignore mobile. Facebook was the first big brand to take a mobile first approach and – even though they are a digital product – it has benefited them tremendously. Google has since announced that they are implementing a mobile first index, meaning that they will be indexing and ranking sites based on mobile versions first. The implication of this is that businesses without a mobile-friendly website will become less visible. But having a mobile-friendly website is only one component of ‘not ignoring mobile’. Another is having your own mobile app since it is able to accomplish everything a website can, but more importantly, it is front and centre on mobile phones. Not hidden inside a web browser.

Would Amazon, the world’s top online retailer, have a mobile app and a mobile-friendly website if there was no benefit?

Still not convinced? This interactive infographic shows exactly what happens in a mobile minute, hour, and day, without limiting data only to social media activity. Just don’t become too mesmerised by the ever increasing number. Your time is better spent adapting your business strategy for mobile.

mobile-friendly website Internet Minute Google, Amazon, Facebook

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