Using Web Analytics to Drive Website Design

Looking at market share statistics can give you a valuable insight into how people use the web. It’s interesting to see the difference in things like which browser people use, or which search engine they prefer. There is even a difference in usage based on whether or not a person is accessing the web via a mobile device or a desktop computer. All of this information could be useful in your company’s website design.

Browser Share

When it comes to desktop browsing sessions Microsoft Internet Explorer has the largest market share over Firefox and Chrome. IE holds 53% of the market while Firefox and Chrome combine to make up 40%. While it comes as no surprise that IE holds the edge due to it being installed on every Windows-based PC, it is interesting to see how the market shares drastically change when looking at mobile browsing.

Safari is found on every iPhone and that by far holds the largest market share at 55%, while all other mobile browsers make up the remaining 45%. The Android browser has the largest share of that group with 22.23%. This is all useful information when trying to analyze the demographics of your website traffic.

Studies have been conducted on the demographics of iPhone users vs. Android users. The study shows that iPhone users tend to be wealthier than Android users. Some business may choose to market their products differently if they see that a majority of their traffic is coming from one device over another.

Search Engines

When it comes to search engines, Google is the clear leader on both desktop and mobile devices. On the desktop side, Google holds 70% of the market share. Bing and Yahoo combine to hold just 12% of the total market. If you look on the mobile side, Google holds and incredible 90% of the market share.

That number shows just how important it is to have a properly optimized mobile version of your website. A business cannot afford to overlook the importance of mobile websites if they ever hope to compete for customers.

Since Google holds such a high percentage of the mobile market, it’s equally important that your mobile site is optimized not just for mobile browsers, but for local search as well. These mobile searches represent the people that are on the go and looking for a business immediately. That business could be yours.

With the capabilities of the various web analytics tools available today you can get a deep understanding of just who is visiting your site. The issue with trying to dig into the analytics of your site is that it can be a very daunting task. In order to understand your site’s traffic you need to know just what you’re looking at first.

At MARION, we have the training and knowledge to analyze your site traffic and help you understand how people are interacting with your website. We can help optimize your website for mobile browsers and improve your local search rankings. Contact us today for a quote!