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Here's a selection of our latest articles on marketing, design and digital issues, and our latest news. If you would like to add an opinion or join the debate please do leave a comment. If you would like to find out more please click the link to the author.
Avoid missing out as more of your web audience goes mobile
Consideration of how your audience are using mobile devices is becoming increasingly important. In 2011 there will be 500 new mobile devices and 100 new tablets launched.
And, by 2013 industry statistics show that more people will view the internet on a mobile device than on a PC. By 2020 there will be 5 billion mobile devices in use worldwide.
Did you know that 20% of job searches are already performed on a mobile device?
Mobile has become an important consideration for all organisations, not just those targeting the youth sector. The need to ensure your site renders correctly and that your emails are delivered well on a mobile are as increasingly critical to business users with their Blackberry as they are to consumers.
Mobile users behavior is usually characterised by:
- Microtasking - Using the phone for short bursts of activity
- Local - Finding out what’s around the user
- Bored - Using the phone for distraction or entertainment.
When considering your mobile audience, remember that not all content may be relevant at that point in time, so getting this aspect right is vital. For example, does someone viewing your website on a mobile need to see your full company history? Is the complete depth of site navigation available on your main site essential, when quick mobile viewing is important?
On your website, the intro and section pages are designed to move your customers into the pages where the content lives. On a mobile you need your customers to see these more valuable content pages as soon as possible.
One size fits none:
You should also consider the type of visitor who will look at your site on a mobile device; is it more likely to be a returning visitor or someone who comes to your site for the first time?
If you are a recruitment company it's more likely people will be coming back to your site to check new jobs, rather than to see your company history or credentials. On the flip side, if you're a doctor's surgery, people may be searching for you; in which case some content on your services, contact details and credentials are more important.
Keeping all these factors in mind, here are some specific mobile design and functionality considerations:
- Simplify navigation
- Reduce depth of navigation
- Create a simple navigation home page
- Make links obvious
- Design for smaller screens
- Prioritize content
- Minimise user input
- Keep form fields to essentials
- Design for slower connection speeds
- Keep page sizes small with minimal graphics
Statistical influence
We carried out some web usage analytics on our client sites and found the average number of mobile users to those sites is approaching 15% of the total.
Can you afford to miss out on these potential customers because they found it too difficult to find the information they needed?
If you have a smartphone, take a moment and have a look at how your own site appears, then have a look at Preview’s to see how a streamlined version of the same site is automatically delivered to your mobile. Our site has simplified navigation, reduced content, but also takes advantage of other features of a mobile, such as linking directly to the map or navigation software to provide pinpoint directions, and linking to the phone to enable a call to be placed without having to copy numbers.
Improving your own site’s mobile performance does not necessarily mean rebuilding your site or developing a parallel mobile version as we can often take much of the structure, coding and components from your existing site and a basic, workable mobile site can be delivered within a few days.
We can also deliver cost-effective, creative, promotional and practical mobile Apps (like the one we did recently for East Sussex County Council) for the iPhone, iPod and Android devices too.
Contact us now to find out we can deliver your website seamlessly for mobile users and unlock the potential of this growing market. If you don’t have a smartphone, we offer a free service to show you how your site or email marketing looks to users on various mobile devices. Please contact Wes for details.
We Aim High with a world leader in renewable energy solutions
Did you know that scientists believe that enough solar energy
reaches Earth from the Sun in one hour to power 100% of the Earth
for a year? The constant increase of growth in the renewable
energy market is testament to this staggering fact. Recently
renewable energy companies have been moving their focus away from
the more mature European markets, where solar power has seen a
steady increase over 15 years, to the wider global market. The
latest continent to welcome the pollution free energy solution,
Asia, has seen a consistent increase in industry growth over the
past 5 years.
Preview client Power-One, who became the world's second largest
producer of renewable energy inverters in 2010, has seen a
significant increase in global sales through product promotion and
supporting a strong distributor network. We have managed and
produced a number of magazine adverts in a multitude of global
languages including German, Italian, Spanish, Chinese and French
and are constantly developing new Power-One product campaigns for
magazines within the renewable energy industry.
Global Marketing Communications Manager, Jason Nicholls said "...
Preview's professional approach has helped our company reach a much
higher level of marketing."
Take a look at the Power-One case study in our portfolio section
to see the others ways in which we have worked with them since 2010.
How far do your twittering rights go?
In a recent story in the Guardian Manchester United manager Sir
Alex Ferguson has criticised the use of the social networking site
Twitter over a comment made by star striker Wayne Rooney after he
threatened a United supporter. Ferguson, who hinted that his
players could be banned from using the site, went on to say
"players are responsible for their actions... We as a club are
looking at it because there can be issues attached".
We're interested in how you think Twitter should be approached
internally? Do you think that employees should have their own
accounts that represent the company or that a single account that
is managed, monitored and authorised by a specific social
marketing manager is the way to go? Share your thoughts in the
comments section below.
New Ecommerce website for Maestro Records
Maestro Direct is one of the leading names in the world of strict tempo dance music including Modern Ballroom, Latin American, Modern Sequence and Old Time Dancing. As well as being an online music outlet, Maestro Records is primarily a recording company who have been making music for dancers for over twenty five years. They currently represent and record for some of the most popular artists on today's UK dance scene.
Maestro Records Ltd came to Preview with the mission to update their current online store. The key was to include a seamless purchasing system for its large current client base and to also be optimised thoroughly to gain a higher level of traffic for Dance Music related searches. The key to this project was to make the website appeal to and function easily for the mature target audience of Maestro Records, while also attracting a new, younger customer base and so avoid eliminating a large, potential additional demographic of buyers.
Newly launched at www.maestrorecords.com, the new online shop is integrated with the SagePay payment gateway; ensuring secure, reliable and seamless transactions for the customer.
Tommy Sanderson, Director of Maestro Direct said "Getting the right people to design our website was proving to be a nightmare until we found Preview. Within a short time we had a fully functional, great looking website. Thanks for a brilliant site and a great working relationship."
Would Bruce Forsyth and Tess Daley approve? See what you think.
The future is clear, pin sharp actually
Last weekend Wes, Rob and I travelled to Birmingham with a hundred thousand or so other geeks to attend one of the UK's largest consumer based technology shows - Gadget Show Live. Industry giants Sony, Panasonic, NVIDIA, Bowers and Wilkins and Epic Games were just a few of the leading names exhibiting over the 5 day event that showcased the latest upcoming tech that to be hitting consumers this year.
On reflection, it was clear to see that the industry is still keen to push the capabilities of 3D this year with the latest 'pin sharp' Samsung 3D TV and various games being the most breath-taking examples.
It'd be a fair prediction to say that these probably won't be the only cases of 3D in our lives within the next few years, with the possiblity of 3D websites surely looming? Gadgets are constantly changing the way we work and play, let us know what other tech you've spotted that could be changing our lives this year.
Helping easyJet Holidays take off
After recently combining services to provide low fare flights with great value accommodation, travel giants easyJet and lowcosttravelgroup tasked Preview with re-designing the existing and outdated easyJet Holidays website. The brief was clear from the off - intuitive functionality and user experience were key to a successful site that delivers bookings.
Similar to the award winning Lowcostholidays website that Preview designed in 2008, the new easyJet Holidays site needed an e-commerce site that is user friendly, efficient, uncluttered and provide users with an instinctive, no fuss booking process.
After designing a series of page templates and a production style guide the easyJet Holidays website launched in March 2011. Why not take a look at the full easyJet Holidays case study or judge the user experience for yourself at http://holidays.easyjet.com.
Empty rates, the small business relief scheme and reviewing rent and lease agreements in the latest Bisset Moffatt Hill newsletter
After what can only be described as an interesting several months within our financial industry, Bisset Moffatt Hill are just about to release their spring newsletter which summarises the most impactful finance and surveyor articles that have been featured over the last few months. Having just signed off the print proofs we're expecting the delivery of 3000 newsletters that will be dispatched around the UK next week.
Bisset Moffatt Hill are a team of qualified Chartered Surveyors that are regulated by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS). Preview have supported BMH since 1999 and in that time have delivered a new brand identity, website, brochures, direct mail campaigns, regular newsletters and stationery. Our relationship with the Bisset Moffatt Hill partners is testament that a successful continuing relationship between client and supplier boasts a far greater return on investment than a one-off marketing blitz promoted by agencies that may not fully understand your business and sector.
Ridding the world of Internet Explorer 6
We spotted an interesting article recently that highlighted the issues and dangers of using out of date browsers on computers. You may find it worth a quick read.
The article on Engadget caught our eye by including phrases such as 'horrible, out-dated web browser'. We were particularly interested to see the global user statistics, with 3.5% of users in the UK still using Internet Explorer 6. Compared with more modern browsers this is significantly low. According to statistics online, the current world leader with 29% penetration is Internet Explorer (IE) version 8, Firefox version 3 with 27% is second and IE v7 is in third place with 13%. IE6 falls short, globally, with only 7% of the share.
The advantage of making sure your browser is up-to-date is, first and foremost, security. Browsers do get updated for a reason - it's not just to annoy you with update requests just as you want to do something urgently! Using out-dated browser versions may have serious security flaws that allow malicious websites to read your files, damage your files, steal your passwords or infect your computer with viruses. Old browsers are prone to having bugs and limitations that may create problems when using modern websites. New browsers, on the other hand, are much faster and the creators are all continuing to improve the user experience. Some sites are only compatible with new browsers, especially technology heavy websites with video, movement or interaction.
In developing websites we aim to ensure that the site content is compatible and accessible by any browser; but there will often be certain modern techniques and functionality that aren't compatible with older browsers. Web technology is a fast moving industry and is always striving to be one step ahead. The older the browser used, the more limited or even basic the user's experience of the web will be.
For security and usability reasons we would encourage everyone to upgrade to the latest version of the browser you use. Your experience on the web will be significantly improved.
Have a read of the Engadget article and let us know what you're using.
New legal rules for websites
As you may have spotted from their recent advertising campaign, from March 1st the Advertising Standards Authority's online remit will be extended to cover marketing communications on organisations' own websites. The UK Code of Non-broadcast Advertising, Sales Promotion and Direct Marketing (the CAP Code) will apply in full to marketing messages online, including the rules relating to misleading advertising, social responsibility and the protection of children.
It is worth noting that this applies not only to your own website(s) but also to other on-line space under your control (ranging from banner adverts to copy you have provided to go on other peoples' sites about your business) AND to your organisation's Social Networking sites - Facebook, Twitter LinkedIn etc.
If you have not reviewed your site recently now may be a good time for a quick bit of housekeeping, making sure that all the copy and messages are up-to-date and taking down any out-dated material.
Some further free advice is available at the ASA's http://www.copyadvice.org.uk website.
Given the new rules we will do our best to prioritise any changes clients need to make to sites before March 1st. Please call Wes or email wes@preview.co.uk as soon as possible if you require any assistance.
CIM Networking @ Browns Bar, Brighton
Fancy catching up and comparing notes with fellow marketers? Or making some new contacts? The Chartered Institute of Marketing Sussex branch is holding a networking social from 6-9pm on February 17th Browns Bar and Brasserie Brighton.
Full details can be found at
http://www.cim.co.uk/Events/EventDetail.aspx?ObjectID=37640
