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I have a website running Adsense. According to Google Analytics, most of the revenue is from mobile visitors. Currently the website does not have a mobile version and does not sport a responsive/adaptive layout.

I plan to create a mobile version of the website (I care about my users), but I fear that this would negatively affect my revenue (I care about that too!).

I wonder what are your thoughts on this, thank you.

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Could you change the title to be in the form of a question, e.g. "Should I create a mobile version of my site if my Adsense revenue is mostly from mobile visitors?". I clicked-thru because I had an inkling of what you were (probably) asking, but it'd be nice if you let everyone else know in the title itself. As-is, the title is simply making a statement and my initial reaction was "huh – and?". – Kenny Evitt May 3 '12 at 19:49
@kenny: Thank you for the suggestion, I changed the title. – whonoes May 9 '12 at 18:16

3 Answers

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I disagree with my friend mickburkejnr:
I would build a simple mobile version to one specific mobile (say iPhone) and use the "user-agent" to decide if to redirect the user to that version. Then, I would run A/B testing to check the efficiency of the mobile version website - if it generates more revenue, I would go on and continue developing mobile-version that will support more devices!

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up vote 2 down vote

It would be interesting to see what mobile devices are being used, and out of these devices what ones are clicking on the ad words.

I say this because a website displayed on an iPad or PlayBook wouldn't and work a lot better compared to a site displayed on an iPhone or HTC Desire (for example). Personally, when I look at sites on my PlayBook, I tend to use the desktop version of the site and not the mobile version. a 7" or 10" screen is better suited to displaying non-mobile sites.

Compare this to me viewing sites on my Samsung Omnia 7, well normal sites are just awful. So I tend to go for the mobile version of the site.

If, in your case, most of your revenue is coming from people using Tablet PC's then I wouldn't change a thing. Obviously there are other things to consider such as time on the site etc, but if it isn't broke why fix it? However, if revenue isn't coming from the users of mobile/smartphone devices, then obviously change the layout to something responsive.

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up vote 1 down vote

You say that most of your revenue is from mobile visitors. How does the Revenue Per Thousand compare?

The revenue change may depend on the type of site. My GayBarMaps.com site was originally built for browsers but as more and more visitors were using it on a mobile device, I created mobile versions. Although it still gets the same visitor traffic, I noticed a marked reduction in click-through percentages and income. The mobile version of course has far fewer ads.

If your site is the type that builds a large returning visitor base, you should be able to increase your total traffic with a well done mobile version. Whether that increase in total traffic will offset the reduced ad real estate will be the bottom line as far as income.

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