Are Visitors Trying to Find You on Their Mobile Device?

Taylor Wilson - June 18, 2010

It has become strikingly apparent that browsing the internet from your mobile device is becoming increasingly more common.  So making sure that your website is mobile friendly and you are leveraging your mobile traffic to the best of your ability, should be of the utmost importance to you. The main question that tends to perplex people is whether or not visitors are trying to find their website from a mobile device?

The best way to establish whether or not visitors are seeking out your website from a mobile device is through your analytical data. Google Analytics is the best free tool in helping you to analyze your website traffic. You can find out how many people are coming to your site from a mobile device and how they are interacting with your site.  As a result you will be able to either confirm or deny your need for a mobile friendly website.

Google Analytics permits you to make advanced custom segments, which allow you to easily determine if visitors are coming to your site from a mobile device. To begin creating an advanced custom segment, click “Advanced Segments” from the “My Customizations” section of your profile and then click “Create New Advanced Segment.”

Follow the 7 easy steps below to create your customize advanced segment and better determine how many visitors are finding you from their mobile device.

1. Drag the `Dimension’ or metric from the left-hand side into the field bordered by dotted lines. (i.e. `Operating Systems’, as seen above)
2. Choose the `Condition’ appropriate to your segment. (i.e. starts with, ends with, greater than.. etc) “Contains” was the value used in our example above.
3. Enter the comparison `Value’ you are using to measure the condition selected. (illustrated above are the names of the operating systems)
4. You can use “and” “or” statements as well to make the segments more comprehensive and limiting.
5. Be sure to click ‘Test Segment.’ to ensure that you chose conditions that make sense and pull data correctly.
6. Name your segment accordingly, and then click ‘Create Segment’ to complete the creation of the segment.
7. Once you have saved the advanced segment, you will be able to apply it through the ‘advanced segments” function in your profile. You will also have the ability to edit the segment at a later date as seen below.

 
Now comes the fun part! You will now be able to determine the quality and quantity of your mobile traffic through your newly created advanced segment and validate the need for creating a mobile friendly website.