When you use Google or another search engine to find a website, the search engine pays attention to what device you’re using to conduct the search: Those that are done on a desktop computer will get slightly different results than those that are done on smartphones, because a smartphone’s smaller screen can’t effectively display some webpages.
This means where a site ranks in the results page can be influenced by the type of device that is doing the searching. From the perspective of a business owner who wants to attract customers online, this is a big deal, as is the fact that more and more online searches are being done on smaller mobile devices, like smartphones.
Your law firm, however, is not just a normal business, and a new study suggests that searches done on a mobile device are not the thing you should be worrying too much about.
58% of Searches Now Done on Mobile Devices…
It seemed like just yesterday that we were talking about the big news: Over half of online searches are done on a mobile device.
Now, a new report is saying that the percentage in the U.S. is actually closer to 58%, amounting to a significant hike. Additionally, with the trend moving upwards, it might seem like mobile searching is the way of the future and that, as a business owner, you need to focus your attention on catering to that crowd by making your site mobile-friendly.
…But Not All Industries are Driving the Trend
However, a crucial component of the study that noted the rise in mobile searches is that it has not impacted all industries. Instead, there are some fields that see a significant majority of their search engine traffic coming from mobile sources, while for others the mobile flow is a mere trickle. According to the study, the industry that saw the most mobile traffic was “food & beverage,” with mobile searches accounting for 72% of the total. The “banking” industry, on the other hand, only saw 39% of its searches coming from mobile devices.
It’s All About Convenience and the Need for Information, Right Now
We at Myers Freelance are not surprised by these results. Every day, we see people using their phones to make quick internet searches for snippets of information that they need now, like where to go for lunch, a bus’ timetable and route, the reviews on a product they’re about to buy, the score in the sportsball game, how to get there from here, or the most recent news in the Mueller Investigation.
The point behind these mobile searches is to quickly find a small piece of information, or to get input on a relatively trivial decision that will have little impact on the searcher’s life, come tomorrow.
And Then There’s Your Law Firm
As a business owner—that business being your law firm—you might be crippled with worry that you’re not doing enough to attract all of those people using their smartphones to look for law firms and legal help.
We think this study should put you more at ease, and backs us up when we insisted law firms should not go overboard making their sites mobile-friendly. While it does show that more and more people are doing searches on their mobile devices, your law firm provides services of the type that is still dominated by desktop traffic: Hiring a lawyer is an expensive and serious endeavor, so we are convinced that interested clients will be researching and considering their options in comfort, rather than making quick decisions based on a few mobile searches done on the subway or in a waiting room.