The first weekend of the golf season resulted in a huge year-on-year increase in traffic for Europe’s largest online golfing community, HowDidiDo, with more than 45,000 unique users visiting the revamped website in just two days.
HowDidiDo launched the new-look website and a new smartphone app – available for both iOS and Android – at the end of 2016. The app is now fast approaching 100,000 downloads and was the number-one free sports app in the Apple Store chart for a number of weeks in late 2016.
This has resulted in a substantial rise in the number of mobile visits – with an increase of more than 16 per cent year on year for the weekend.
But the most staggering figures come in the number of unique users for the two-day period which rose an astonishing 63 per cent year on year, from 27,905 to 45,463. And user-sessions resulted in an equally impressive rise of more than 72 per cent to 64,431.
And, with the average session now lasting almost four minutes, it’s clear that golf club members across the UK and Ireland have responded positively to HowDidiDo’s significant investment, as spokesman Barry Dyett explained.
“We have been really encouraged by the data we have seen for the new site this early in the season,” he said. “We wanted to provide what club golfers required and these figures, even at this early stage, suggest a wholly positive response. And, clearly, the app is proving very popular given the increase in the number of mobile users.
“We will not, however, rest on our laurels. We will continue to listen to our users and our clients, the golf clubs, and where we feel we can fine tune things further we will endeavour to do so.”
Officials at HowDidiDo and Club Systems International – which powers HowDidiDo via its market-leading IT systems – were already encouraged by improved figures for the first eight weeks of the year, which showed a huge 78.5 per cent rise in user-sessions year on year, but they were keen to see early ‘in-season’ data to reinforce their initial enthusiasm.
Dyett added: “The number of unique users has increased significantly – which suggests the appeal is now greater – while the number of sessions is also showing a considerable upward trend. Therefore, more users are logging on more often and viewing further content for longer. And they are returning to the site more often.
“This trend is probably supported by an increase in mobile log-ons. More frequent visits, by more visitors, are often a result of increased mobile functionality.”
The relaunched website enjoys a fresh look, smoother navigation and a new social-media influenced timeline. In addition, it is now more mobile friendly offering an even greater depth of golfing data that is also available through the app.
With around half-a-million club golfers, from HowDidiDo’s 1,800-plus registered clubs across the UK and Ireland, using the website regularly, it has also been upgraded at the back end, to provide faster response times and enhanced security features.
HowDidiDo holds data from in excess of 53 million rounds of golf, along with the handicaps, results and scores of more than 1,300,000 UK golf club members, with more than 547,000 golfers currently using the website.
More than 1,800 golf clubs currently use the HowDidiDo system – courtesy of their use of Club Systems International software. HowDidiDo allows members to analyse their game and compare performance with other players, at their own club or across the entire HowDidiDo network.
HowDidiDo is rapidly becoming the largest online, social golfing hub in the world, with new, engaging and exciting content for golfers everywhere to enjoy. It is also used for official CONGU handicapping and competition results.
As well as developing one of the most active sports websites in the world, HowDidiDo also powers the highly acclaimed HowDidiDo Matchplay, a UK singles and pairs competition which culminated in a grand final in Morocco in February.
And the annual Titleist Order of Merit, the largest golf event of its kind in the country, now sees more than 20,000 golfers take part each year making it one of the UK’s most subscribed sporting competitions, behind only events like the London Marathon and Great North Run. In 2016, the grand final took place at four-time Ryder Cup venue the Belfry.
HowDidiDo www.howdidido.com