60 Percent of Online Traffic Now Comes From Mobile



online traffic report

If your business depends upon online traffic, you should know. More than half of digital traffic online now comes from mobile devices and through mobile apps.

A comScore report says smartphones and tablets combined now account for 6o percent of all online traffic up from 50 percent a year ago. And 51 percent of that traffic is driven by mobile apps (like those for digital radio such as Pandora or Spotify, digital messaging like WhatsApp or Viber and social apps like Facebook and Twitter.)

Significantly, this is a very different measure than the amount of organic traffic driven by mobile, as cited in another recent report from SEO platform BrightEdge.

That study suggested that about 23 percent of organic traffic to websites now originates from Android or iPhone devices while 12 percent comes from tablets. But this report looked only at traffic originating from mobile search, in other words, someone looking for something using a search engine like Google or Bing via their phone or tablet.

The comScore report examines a much broader cross section of online traffic. It could just as easily be looking at visitors delivered to your website via a link on a Facebook app as from a mobile search for your business on a search engine.

online traffic report

One conclusion is that, while categories like digital radio and photo sites like Instagram and Flickr may draw more activity, for marketers (and small businesses) social media is most important.

In it’s official report, comScore explains:

“While social networking does not rank at the very top of this list among the most mobile-skewing content categories, it is arguably the most important. The #1 category in terms of overall digital engagement accounting for 20% of total digital time spent, social networking now generates more than 70% of its activity on mobile. When considering the category’s contribution to total digital ad spending, its rapid shift to mobile marks an important sign of the times for the Internet economy.”

The report adds that:

  • Mobile activity on social media has grown by 55 percent over the past year.
  • It has also accounted for 31 percent of all growth in Internet activity over the same period.
  • Facebook alone accounts for 24 percent of all mobile activity online and its primary app is responsible for 18 percent.

The report should give you a whole new perspective on the importance of social media marketing for your business, especially on sites like Facebook.

Mobile Photo via Shutterstock, comScore

211 Comments ▼

Shawn Hessinger Shawn Hessinger is the Executive Editor for Small Business Trends and a professional journalist with more than 20 years experience in traditional and digital media for trade publications and news sites. He is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists and has served as a beat reporter, columnist, editorial writer, bureau chief and managing editor for the Berks Mont Newspapers.

211 Reactions
  1. Great article and a reminder to check your website analytics often. More traffic from mobile and more mobile on social media. Every company needs to have updated information and active content on their social media sites.

    Thanks for the great information.

  2. So it finally happened. I also have a personal observation on this. I found that I am now using my laptop less and less and have relied more on mobile. But then, you still cannot play games that well on mobile compared to your PC.

  3. Vedarth Deshpande

    Wonderful post!
    I shared it @socinova

  4. People are no more using their laptop or desktop for using social media, everyone is active on their smartphones, this has made a significant improvement in mobile traffic. People are now habitual to use their mobile instead of their laptop or desktop to visit any website they want.

    Thanks Shawn for sharing such insights with us, it was nice reading it.

  5. I love my mobile devices, but when it comes to serious browsing I prefer my desktop. But that doesn’t change the fact that many people surf from an phone or tablet. And that is why it is so important for local businesses to have a mobile presence. Local + mobile is a winning combination that small businesses need to embrace.

    And that doesn’t even address the social media aspects of mobile!

  6. It used to be around 12% for most of my clients, some I am seeing as high as 45%.
    This makes a lot of sense as a sort of ‘portal’ to search via mobile —> “Facebook alone accounts for 24 percent of all mobile activity online”

  7. Social media plays an important role in acquiring mobile traffic . As most of the social networking site users are smartphone users , so the traffic you will be getting will also be mobile . It’s also important to make your site mobile friendly to retain each new visitor to your site .

  8. I guess I am not too surprised here. We knew it was coming. We see this in the survey world as well with over 50% of survey submissions coming via mobile in 2017. Thanks for sharing.

    George

  9. I wonder how much it is now as 4 years have gone – hmm probably it touches 70-80%

  10. So true! The percentage will even go higher after a few years. Everyone rely on and do searches on their smartphones these days rather than going on a desktop. It is just very convenient. Thanks for this good article.

  11. Great article, It’s really so helpful for us. Thank you very much to share this report.

  12. Mobiles are now handier and feature-rich, I think this is the biggest reason for Increasing Mobile traffics. Even social media and google also focus on mobile usability for a website. you are right we should focus on Mobile traffic. Thank you for sharing this valuable post 🙂

  13. thanks for a wonderful post. thanks to admin for share a valuable post

  14. Great post, I am looking for more 🙂

  15. Great post, I am looking for more 😉

  16. Very help full Post Online Traffic Now Comes From Mobile.

  17. Very help full Post for biggner.

  18. Lot of thanks for supports for biggners like me.

  19. Tis a amaging site for new devloper or others for technology management finance advice and also verious type of news.
    thanks.

  20. Thanks a lot for advise.

  21. most of the social networking site users are smartphone users , so the traffic you will be getting will also be mobile . It’s also important to make your site mobile friendly

  22. Thanks , Nice Article
    I love my mobile devices, but when it comes to serious browsing I prefer my desktop.

  23. thanks for providing a valuable content

  24. Wonderful post! cover all most topics related to traffic comes from mobile device only ; Thank you for sharing this kind of information

  25. most of the social networking site users are smartphone users , so the traffic you will be getting will also be mobile . It’s also important to make your site mobile friendly

  26. very few people using their laptop or desktop for checking social profile because mobile is handy and pocket sticky so everyone is active on their smartphones. Day by day these numbers are increasing and this has made a significant improvement in mobile traffic. if our site is not mobile-friendly so we are missing large numbers of potential traffic or customer on our website or blogs.

  27. now in 2021 , we have more and more trafic from mobile

  28. Thanks for sharing this creative article.

  29. Thanks, useful article. In 2021 we are expecting more traffic from the mobile phone.

  30. Your article is good and value able information …sir keep up the good work thanks for sharing this everbest article… thankyou somuch…

  31. Yes This is right, 60%+ traffic comes from mobile devices.

  32. In the recent time, the mobile users are keep on increasing and the mobile friendly and especially fastest mobile rendering sites are welcome by Google. It is better to optimize your entire site for mobile users and don’t forget to include the rich snippet for your primary categories and FAQs to gain higher weightage. You should be pro-active to trap the lucrative benefit organic traffic by align with Google’s latest algorithmic updates.

  33. Thanks for sharing this creative article.

  34. Small biz the last detailed article you shared on your site is fantastic keep up the good work

  35. http://indified.in

    Thanks for the information.

  36. Hi, thanks for interesting post! Waiting from new information about mobile web traffic in 2021!

  37. What a nice text. Your information about this was really complete and excellent. Your success is more every day. Thank you dear friend

  38. this article is very important for bloggers, thanks for sharing this

  39. So true! The percentage is increasing years by year . Everyone rely on their smartphones these days rather than going on a desktop. It is just very convenient. I am also that one guy haaaaa….

  40. You can realy make money throgh it

  41. E dharti क्या है ? Online खसरा खाता और ब्यौरा कैसे निकाले

    THANKD GOOD POST

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  44. Such a useful info

  45. Hi, thanks for interesting post! Waiting from new information about mobile web traffic in 2021!

  46. prashant ram tripathi

    Great post, I am looking for more ??

  47. I am excited to read this article.You are a great mentor and I appreciate your work.

  48. Thanks for sharing!

  49. Thanks, useful article. In 2021 we are expecting more traffic from the mobile phone.

  50. Thanks man, for this wonderful blog post.

  51. thanx for sharing this articles

  52. Ite Great Content thanks For Sharing with us

  53. We really find such great topics here

  54. best and useful information

  55. Nice to see this post

  56. We Really Find Such Great Topics Here

  57. very nice article …its greate ever i had read…

  58. You are a great mentor and I appreciate your work. Thank you so much.

  59. Very Good Info

  60. This is a very nice and informative article. Thanks for sharing such a nice piece of information.

  61. very nice article thanks for the information

  62. Thanks, useful article. In 2021 we are expecting more traffic from the mobile phone.

  63. Your blog is really awesome keep it up guys

  64. Mom's Kitchen Web

    Nice blog awesome article and more

  65. Very good article good job . I like ur articles

  66. Wow well-written post

  67. this article is good

  68. Thanks for providing us this useful article. In 2021 we are expecting more traffic from the mobile phone.

  69. I hope its more than 80% due to of the pandemic now

  70. After a recent Google update my traffic drops by 60% percent any advice to recover it again.

  71. Can you give some tips to improve core web vitals score for mobile pages?

  72. You can really make a good revenue through that traffic

  73. traffic is the most important. thank you for explaining it with so much details.

  74. Awesome content, keep posting

  75. Thanks for the amazing information

  76. I loved the article, can you please add more tips for mobile ?

  77. Very good article good job . I like ur articles

  78. Great post, I am looking for more ??

  79. Thank you for your valuable and unique content

  80. Healthbano health

    It used to be around 12% for most of my clients, some I am seeing as high as 45%.

  81. Wow NYC information sir ji 😁

  82. Yes its great time with us

  83. Hello, I stumbled on your website, I thought it was a mistake that 60 Percent of Online Traffic Now (2021), but then I saw that your post was Published: Jul 8, 2014 🙂

  84. That’s true google too prefer mobile-friendly websites now

  85. Thanks for providing us this useful article. In 2021, After a recent Google update my traffic drops by 60% percent any advice to recover it again.

  86. Yes you are absolutely right, these days most of ther traffic comes from mobile.

  87. the great information

  88. Very informative post. Keep it up.

  89. FiniteSite is India’s leading source of financial content on the web, ranging from market news to retirement strategies, investing in education to insights.

  90. thanx for article very useful





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