The first ever survey of Australia’s most popular mobile websites has found content is still king, with news, sports and entertainment dominating the top 10 list.
New figures from Nielsen Online show the most popular mobile sites as of April 2010 are News.com.au with 48,090 average users per month, followed by SMH.com.au at 33,519 users and theage.com.au at 25,352 users.
While the numbers remain small compared with internet sites, the data shows mobile sites are quite sticky. Fox Sports has the lowest amount of users in the top 10 at 3,360, but has the highest average session at seven minutes and 43 seconds.
Matt Bruce, managing director of Nielsen’s online business in Australia, says this data should serve as evidence for smaller businesses that having a mobile site is worth the effort if you have a dedicated user base.
“This in particular, is really interesting because it’s the first time we’ve had third party metrics on bigger websites. Seeing News.com.au and the Fairfax sites at the top is definitely an eye-opener.”
“I think this new survey really reveals what people are doing online, and shows that not only are people prepared to use mobile sites to access regular data points but it shows that people are using them on a regular basis.”
New figures from Frost & Sullivan show Australian companies spent about $7.5 million on mobile ads during 2008-09, but that figure is set to grow to $150 million during 2013-14 as more companies realise the benefits of the mobile.
Bruce says Nielsen produced the mobile sites report following feedback that not enough credible information was being provided regarding solid user figures. Now, he says, there is no excuse for not moving into the mobile scene.
“I think if we look at the top site that is getting 48,000 unique browsers a day, just on the mobile platform, then I think that’s a pretty good indicator of how engaged people are becoming in the mobile space.”
Bruce says that for businesses who are thinking of developing a mobile site, a number of factors need to be considered including ease of use and actual worth to the user. There is no point building a mobile site, he says if it will end up more complex than the original site.
“At the click of a mouse, or a touchscreen, these days you can get onto a friendly website within seconds. And if one isn’t easy to use, they will move on to a new one faster quicker than you think they might.”
“People have to be working fairly quickly to stay on top of these trends. It’s a fast changing environment, so you have to be flexible and quick to make sure your site is as friendly as possible for users to visit.”
Patrick Stafford is a freelance journalist and a former deputy editor of SmartCompany.
