Was the Mobilegeddon hype worth it?

Back in April, we wrote about the upcoming Google algorithm changes regarding mobile optimisation, and we advised people not to be scared into spending money until we knew the full extent of the changes and the repercussions.

So, we've done some analysis of the Google Analytics data on the sites that we manage to see what the differences are since the changes.

Was it worth the hype?

Well, in most cases, as we predicted at the time, no, not really.

Some of the sites that we manage saw virtually no change at all in the percentage of mobile visitors to their site. Most of these (but not all) are B2B companies with very low mobile visitor rates anyway.

The biggest change that we saw was actually positive, not negative!

The vast majority of the sites that we monitored saw an increase in the percentage of mobile videos over the first half of this year, not a decrease. As a lot of commentators have suggested, 2015 is definitely the year of mobile!

But I suppose the problem here is that the overall increase in mobile users may just be hiding a smaller decrease caused by Google's changes. It's very difficult to tell. Maybe Google's changes did have a negative impact on these sites, but the overall increase caused by general society's changes masked it.

Only 2 of the sites that we manage saw a decrease in the number of mobile visitors after April, compared to the same period before. Both of them were B2C companies.

So this is still important. In general, Google's changes seem to have had very little impact, but it is not true across the board. Some sites were clearly affected.

Our advice is to take a look at your stats before and after April and to base your decision on this data alone, not on general scaremongering or advice from salesmen. If your site shows evidence of being negatively affected by Google's mobile optimisation changes, then consider having your website mobile optimised. Otherwise, you can probably get away with it a bit longer, unless you have other reasons for doing it.

OpenGlobal believe in giving straight talking honest advice, and never scaremongering. If you want a web design company that ooperates in the best interests of your company, not just their bottom line, call us today on 0845 269 9624.

Back in April we wrote about the upcoming Google algorithm changes regarding mobile optimisation, and we advised people not to be scared into spending money until we knew the full extent of the changes and the repercussions.

So, we've done some analysis of the Google Analytics data on the sites that we manage to see what the differences are since the changes.

Was it worth the hype?

Well, it most cases, as we predicted at the time, no, not really.

Some of the sites that we manage saw virtually no change at all in the percentage of mobile visitors to their site. Most of these (but not all) are B2B companies with very low mobile visitor rates anyway.

The biggest change that we saw was actually positive, not negative!

The vast majority of the sites that we monitored saw an increase in the percentage of mobile videos over the first half of this year, not a decrease. As a lot of commentators have suggested, 2015 is definitely the year of mobile!

But I suppose the problem here is that the overall increase in mobile users may just be hiding a smaller decrease caused by Google's changes. It's very difficult to tell. Maybe Google's changes did have a negative impact on these sites, but the overall increase caused by general society's changes masked it.

Only 2 of the sites that we manage saw a decrease in the number of mobile visitors after April, compared to the same period before. Both of them were B2C companies.

So this is still important. In general, Google's changes seem to have had very little impact, but it is not true across the board. Some sites were clearly affected.

Our advice is to take a look at your stats before and after April and to base your decision on this data alone, not on general scaremongering or advice from salesmen. If your site shows evidence of being negatively affected by Google's mobile optimisation changes, then consider having your website mobile optimised. Otherwise, you can probably get away with it a bit longer, unless you have other reasons for doing it.

OpenGlobal believe in giving straight talking honest advice, and never scaremongering. If you want a web design company that ooperates in the best interests of your company, not just their bottom line, call us today on 0845 269 9624.