Mobile Websites: 70% of Software Resellers Don't Have One

SEO and digital marketing experts have been debating the impact of Google's mobile algorithm update - aka 'mobilegeddon' - for the last few weeks. What are the consequences for websites that aren't optimised for mobile users? And just how many sites will be affected?

Earlier this month, SEO consultant Daniel Bianchini discovered that 25% of 'the UK's biggest brands' (based on analysis of the leading websites for consumer terms like 'holidays' and 'car insurance') weren't ready for the mobile update. Then TechCrunch reported that over 40% of Fortune 500 websites could be negatively affected by the change.

We wanted to see how well companies in our specialist space, B2B technology, have prepared for Google's latest update and how many of them havea mobile website. At Axon Garside, we often work on inbound marketing and lead generation campaigns for software resellers/distributors - so we decided to do a bit of research of our own.

We used the 'find a partner' section of Microsoft.com to get a list of recommended Dynamics AX partners in the UK. We then took the first 20 results and checked each company's website using the mobile-friendly test tool from Google. The results were surprising…

Of the 20 sites we looked at, only six were deemed mobile-friendly by Google. A massive 70% of the sites are not currently optimised for mobile users.

So it seems the percentage of Dynamics AX resellers that weren't prepared for the algorithm update is even higher than in those other studies currently doing the rounds online. And each reseller without a mobile website design site can now expect to see a significant drop in mobile traffic arriving at their websites via Google.

Even if you feel your business does not yet rely heavily on mobile traffic, it's impossible to ignore the growing importance of smartphones and tablets. Earlier this month, eMarketer reported that the amount of time UK adults spend per day on mobile devices is set to surpass laptop and desktop computers for the first time ever this year. People are expected to spend a daily average of two hours and 26 minutes using mobile devices in 2015 - a figure that has increased by almost five times since 2011.

It's clear that if your website isn't visible to mobile users, you're already letting a huge number of potential leads slip away - and the problem is only going to get worse. To find out if your site is ready to handle the shift to mobile, sign up for a free B2B mobile website consultation today.