Articles by "Mobilegeddon"

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iTech Dunya is a technology blog that specializes in tech-related topics.Our GOAL is to produce high-quality content for our millions of readers.
Top 10 Why Your Business Needs Mobile Website People use smartphones to surf the web wherever they are, from the office to their living room couch. It has forced businesses to start considering if they need to build up a mobile version of their website to be able to serve mobile users. Some may contemplate it a passing fad, while some believe that it is the wave into the future.

Top 10 Why Your Business Needs Mobile Website

People use smartphones to surf the web wherever they are, from the office to their living room couch. It has forced businesses to start considering if they need to build up a mobile version of their website to be able to serve mobile users. Some may contemplate it a passing fad, while some believe that it is the wave into the future.

If your business does not build around Mobile Website, you are losing customers.
Why YOUR COMPANY MUST HAVE a Mobile Website?

Here’s ten reasons why your business must have as mobile website:



  1. Speed – Mobile websites are optimized for faster download rates of speed because most smartphone users do not need to hold back more than four seconds for website to load.
  2. Google wants it – The leading internet search engine making mobile websites first priority since it believes this is exactly what smartphone users want. Google is hoping to avoid frustrated web surfers using smartphones by giving the Internet experience they need.
  3. Your competitors are doing it – Given the known fact Google favours more mobile websites, more businesses start to build based on mobile websites. You don’t want your company to fall behind your competition.
  4. Your customers want to buy – In a recent survey, 50% of mobile device users surveyed prefers website that’s is mobile friendly and easy to navigate.
  5. Customer retention – About 66% of these smartphone users surveyed said a good mobile site would make sure they are more likely to produce a purchase, while 74% said they might be more likely to return to that site.
  6. Targeted search – Having a mobile website enhances search engine optimization (SEO) to rank higher on Google search ranking.
  7. Better Discovery opportunity – Today’s consumers are on constant move and with mobile phones on their hand, chances of your business being discovered are greater.
  8. Integration – Mobile websites are developed to compliment both platforms of mobile and PC desktop. Both platform ensures users are able to navigate seamlessly and better user experience.
  9. Incredible development – Smartphones web search allow users to look for, discover and gather information based on local area search using GPS or mobile data detection. Industry experts estimation the mobile web search is growing eight times faster than the pc online search.
  10. It is revolutionizing – Mobile web revolution has just begun, and it keeps growing just. A recent survey finds 72% of mobile users responded a mobile-friendly website is important to them. It is imperative to develop mobile website for your business to be ahead of your competition.

Smartphone use is booming and this offers businesses with various opportunities to get find leads and customers. Mobile device users want websites that work very well on the smartphones, and businesses that can offer that will have an absolute advantage over their competitors.
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iTech Dunya is a technology blog that specializes in tech-related topics.Our GOAL is to produce high-quality content for our millions of readers.
Mobile Responsive site or App?
Nielsen, Flurry (Yahoo) and comScore data all agree that nearly 90% of smartphone user time is spent in apps. In contrast to those findings, however, a number of consumer surveys have indicated that users prefer mobile websites to mobile apps when using the mobile internet.

As indicated in the graphic, LSA’s Local Media Tracking survey (conducted by Burke) found 64% of smartphone users preferred mobile websites to mobile apps. The number is even greater with tablets.

This finding is also supported by an earlier 2015 consumer survey from SEO firm BrightLocal. BrightLocal asked about user preferences regarding local business search. The survey found that 50% of respondents preferred mobile sites vs. 10% who preferred apps. A third category was mobile maps, which 40% preferred to use for local search.

Needless to say, it’s challenging to reconcile these “time spent” in apps metrics with the apparent consumer preference for mobile websites.

DATA SOURCE


The data comes from LSA's 2014 Local Media Tracking Study conducted by Burke. LSA members and research subscribers recieve acces to data depending on membership level. To access the data or make unique data requests,

L Gabriel Ramirez
Written by

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iTech Dunya is a technology blog that specializes in tech-related topics.Our GOAL is to produce high-quality content for our millions of readers.
Mobile Friendly Vs Mobile Ready

Enter Mobilegeddon!

Brace for impact, a big change has hit.

If you haven’t already heard, as of April 21, Google announced a significant change in its' search ranking algorithm, stating that it will now incorporate a site’s mobile-friendliness into the equation. Dubbed “mobilegeddon”, the latest change is set to turn up the heat on the fight for the top dog position in search rankings.
EIK!! Is my website mobile friendly? Take the test here.
But having a mobile ready website is only just the beginning! With mobile users quickly overtaking the desktop user audience, having a website that looks good on mobile is just not enough, you need to consider how your mobile user are interacting with your website.
We need to take lead from Google. They have identified and understand the dynamic change in user behaviour for mobile users. They’re demanding, and we need to respond to this, providing what they need at the time that they need it. So while responding to the algorithm change is pivotal, it’s representative of a much bigger shift we must be adapting to.

Time to turn on our “mobile mindset”.

Our 4 quick tips to ensure you are meeting your consumers expectations:
Responsive - People are visiting your website for a specific purpose at a specific time. Make sure your website is designed to ensure they can quickly and intuitively find the information they are after without any difficulty.  
Relevant - Think about the viewing behaviour of your visitors and the information they would be looking for on a mobile device compared to a desktop computer. While they don’t want a striped back version of the website, consider placing more relevant information to the top of the page.
Accessible - Have you used easy-to-read text? Are the images large and clear? Is the website layout simple and easy to navigate?
Frictionless - Nothing affects the perception of a brand more than a frustrating and time consuming website visit? If their mobile visit is distracting or too difficult to manipulate, the visitor will simply leave
Beware - Google has issued the warning - they want their mobile users to be happy and to ensure they can continue to deliver “relevant information, and high quality search results that are optimized for their devices."

So the big question, how does your website stack up?

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iTech Dunya is a technology blog that specializes in tech-related topics.Our GOAL is to produce high-quality content for our millions of readers.
Is your content mobile friendly?
Most of the world survived it. #Mobilegeddon has happened but like nuclear fallout it may take a while for your business to feel the repercussions. It's not too late for your business to respond to this development in search marketing.

What the heck are you on about?

Back in February Google announced that on April 21st it would begin to favour mobile friendly sites in its search results. This may seem drastic but consider your own frequent usage of your mobile. Think of the frustration you have experienced using a site that is not optimised for mobile devices. Consider also that Comreg reported in September 2014 that smartphone users accounted for 59% of mobile users in Ireland. Globally this figure is 37% rising from 12% in 2008. In the quickly developing and enormous market of China 18% of smartphone users have made a purchase on their phone, compared to 8% in the US, for example. All this gives us an inkling of Google's understanding of their users' experience of searching the web.
A well designed website should be responsive i.e. respond to the device, browser and screen size on which the user is viewing your site. I'm not a designer or a front end developer. I won't pretend to be able to solve design issues. Our frequent collaborator Pixel Design have been creating beautiful, award winning responsive sites for years.
However, when creating sites for mobile it's not just design and code that need to be considered. Your content should be optimised for use on mobile too. It should be written and presented in such a way that it is easy for mobile users to read and engage with. The following suggestions for creating mobile friendly content are actually quite sensible. So no panicking required! If you do have concerns please feel free to get in touch and OnlineHub can help you improve your performance on mobile devices.

How can you optimise your content for mobile?

In 2014 Google published the criteria the Googlebot uses to assess whether the site it is visiting is mobile friendly:
  • Avoids software that is not common on mobile devices, like Flash
  • Uses text that is readable without zooming
  • Sizes content to the screen so users don't have to scroll horizontally or zoom
  • Places links far enough apart so that the correct one can be easily tapped
An up to date web development and web design team should be able to ensure these four features. However, I'd like to add the following suggestions to really make your content shiny and shareable and evergreen.
Make it easy to save  You may be aware of the acronym TLDR and wondered what it meant? It stands for Too Long; Didn't Read. Many smartphone users pull out their phones when they have an interlude, a moment to spare. They want to be able to quickly catch up and maybe load up on content to read/ watch/ listen to at their leisure. Make this as easy as possible for your readers by either including bookmarking or note-making apps in your social bookmarking function. These include, but are not limited to Instapaper, Delicious and Evernote. Evernote is my current go-to note app.
Don't rely on images to tell too much of the story. If you do use images, serve smaller or more focused mobile friendly versions.
Keep it short and snappy. That is all.
Break up the text by using headlines, bulleted lists and short paragraphs.
Include clear navigation especially a back to top link.

How do I know how my site is performing - there are so many devices!

Thankfully there is help is at hand. The main browsers on the market This is a weenchy bit technical and it will open up some intimidating-looking frames in your browser but it will give you an insight into how your site is working for you on a range of mobile devices. These instructions are for desktop browsers only.
If you are a Google Chrome user on desktop (Google Chrome is Google's internet browser) there is a function included in the browser that allows you to see how your site looks on different devices. Click Ctrl+Shift+I and you will see an interface that among other functions includes a Device drop down (it's on the top left in orange on my screen.)
Choose the device you would like to see and remember to press F5 or refresh your screen to ensure you are seeing this as it appears on the other device.
You can do this on Internet Explorer by pressing F12 on your keyboard and choosing the Emulation tab that appears in the frame at the bottom of your screen (last tab in my browser).
In Firefox you will find this tool by Opening the Menu (top right) and clicking Developer. From here choose Responsive Design Mode which appears to the right on the top of the Developer Console.
In Safari you much change a small setting in your preferences initially to access Developer Tools. Click the Settings button (a little cog to the far right top of your Safari browser usually) and choose Preferences. A dialog box appears. Click on Advanced and choose "Show Developer menu in menu bar." Now when you click the little Page icon beside the Settings icon (the little cog). You will now see an option "User Agent" with an arrow. This offers you a plethora of devices to choose from. Once you choose the page will reload and voilá! you will see how well your site performs in a range of browsers and devices.
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iTech Dunya is a technology blog that specializes in tech-related topics.Our GOAL is to produce high-quality content for our millions of readers.
What does Mobile-friendly search algorithm mean for Internet in India

What is this Mobile-Friendly search algorithm?


Imagine you are travelling and you feel the need to check the score on your smartphone. You search for a website, click on the first result it shows up and you are taken to a webpage which makes you scroll horizontally all over the place to view the score, hit refresh, tap and zoom to view text etc. Not cool right? Makes you close the browser and hit up an app or text a friend right? Well, It is not your but the website's loss that it didn't make itself mobile screen friendly. This is what close to two third of the smartphone users in a survey reported.

So, how many websites are actually good friends with your mobile phone?
According to research survey only 52% of the Fortune 500 websites are optimized for viewing on the mobile screen. The rest will brute force their way from the Computer to the mobile screen.

Over the past few weeks, Google has been rolling out changes in its search algorithm which primarily uses mobile-friendliness as a ranking parameter.
It means that this new algorithm will scan the webpage (its CSS and Java Script files) for mobile friendliness. Now, how is mobile friendliness defined? Well, here are a few features that make a website mobile friendly:


  • Usage of software supported mobile devices (unlike Flash)
  • Usage of text which is legible without zooming
  • Adapts the content to the screen so that users do not have to scroll horizontally or zoom (Responsive Design)
  • Links and buttons are placed so that the correct ones can be easily tapped or accessed
  • This change will rank the mobile friendly websites higher than the rest in their search results. Google claims that this change will make it easier for users to get relevant high quality search results optimized for their mobile phones.


What does this change mean for Internet users in India?


Globally, the internet usage on mobile phones is increasing rapidly. According to a survey among smartphone users, close 75% of the users said that mobile friendly sites are important to them and they are more likely to revisit these websites. According to another survey done to understand the source of mobile traffic (website based, not apps), close to half of all smartphone traffic comes from search.
In India, Internet usage has picked up rapidly in the last few years with usage on mobile phones growing faster than that on other devices. According to the IAMAI-IMRB I-Cube 2014 reports, there are close to 270 Mn Internet users currently who access the Internet at least once a month. Out of these, close to 80% of the users access the Internet on their mobile phones. And among these users, a large proportion consider the mobile phone as their main device of Internet access. More than 90% of these users in India access the Internet for general search and discovery purposes followed by communication and entertainment.
Among the users who do not access Internet, one of the main reasons is unavailability of a Computer.
With reducing handset charges and mobile data tarrifs, Internet has been able to make deep inroads in the Indian society. Most of the newer users today begin their Internet journey on a mobile phone.
Thus, the growth of Internet in India will come mostly from Internet on the Mobile phone and this is where most of the consumer - brand interactions will take place.

What does this change mean for the Brands?


Mobile phones are going to be at the forefront of interaction avenues between Brands and their consumers. And the interaction will be very personalized. Therefore, this medium becomes all the more important for the Brands. In the same survey, a majority of the users said they are more likely to purchase or convert post a visit to a mobile friendly site, and 'move on' from a non-mobile friendly one. The users also mentioned that the frustration of using the site might hurt the perception of the brand. Thus it becomes more imperative for brands to have a mobile friendly interaction platform in terms of website, advertisements, processes and transactions. Facebook can be seen as a good example of this mobile revolution. A whopping 86% of their monthly active users are on Mobile. And this has translated to 73% of its revenue coming from Mobile ads.

In India, while the ad spends on Digital medium has been growing at a CAGR of 25% over the last few years, the ad spends on Mobile medium has increased by a CAGR of 43% (IAMAI IMRB Report on Digital Advertisement in India). With the growth in users accessing the Internet on their Mobile devices, the Mobile Internet traffic is expected to increase at a rate of 18% year-over-year.

In this wake, businesses now cannot afford to ignore this trend and will have to change their strategy towards Mobile friendly platforms, advertisements, transaction processes. Failing to do this will affect the rankings and hence, profits.

Thus, from where I see it, this change in Google's algorithm to award Mobile Friendliness and penalise others will result in:


  • Brands to have a strong mobile strategy and create more mobile friendly content
  • More users coming on the Internet platform through mobile devices and hence, better Internet penetration in India
  • Better targeted and more personalized interaction of consumers with Brands

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iTech Dunya is a technology blog that specializes in tech-related topics.Our GOAL is to produce high-quality content for our millions of readers.
Five SEO freindly tips to get mobile apps counted in SERPs

1: Feature your brand prominently in the app name- 

The app name doubles as the link anchor text within the App Store and Android Market. Getting these sites to link to your app profile page, using your brand name as a link, is critical for tapping into their enormous link equity.Be sure to feature the brand name in the download page URL as well. Please see the app pages on Amazon, ebay.

2: Link to your app profile page(s) from your home page and/or site footer-

You have to aim the link equity of your most important pages at your app download pages. Many brands bury these important links.Consider building a landing page or section dedicated to your apps with screen shots, reviews, features, etc. But it must also have links from the most important pages of your site, and follow the other tips here to make it into Page 1 for brand queries.

3: Include your brand name in the link text that points at app download pages- 

Too many brands make the mistake of linking to the app profile page without including the brand name, as in  “Download iPhone App.” Even worse, some just link through the “Available on Android/App Store” graphics. (See Walmart example below.) This is a huge missed opportunity! Use your anchor text wisely. You have to signal that App Store or Android app page is all about your brand

4: Provide a QR link to download the app from your desktop site landing page-

 Use QR codes to give desktop site visitors easy app access. The QR needs to trigger app download on the right device once scanned. Remember to compress the link before your generate the QR. Native Apple and Android app page URLs exceed 50 characters. Producing high density Qrs that fail to scan when displayed at small sizes.For best results, use a link compression or QR platform that shows you bot QR crawl requests (full disclosure: we provide one). Our prediction is that QR will be a mobile search ranking signal within the next 12 months. Start experimenting now.

5: Cross-promote your app to mobile users, searchers, and bots- 

Here’s the magic. You already have a captive mobile audience itching for you to make it easy to discover relevant mobile pages (or your app).When iPhone, iPad, or Android browsers hit your site (desktop or mobile), provide a link at the top of the page for them to download the appropriate app for their device.But don’t stop there. For the trifecta, make sure Google’s new Smartphone Googlebot is crawling the app links from your mobile pages as well, using appropriately branded anchor text (not images).

App Store and Android Market app pages are a powerful new ranking opportunity for desktop and mobile searchers. Retailers and media brands with large volumes of site traffic, page content, link networks, or social popularity, can easily leverage these digital assets to influence app profile page relevance, and app popularity, at the same time.
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iTech Dunya is a technology blog that specializes in tech-related topics.Our GOAL is to produce high-quality content for our millions of readers.
In April, Google threw down a daunting—yet mobile-friendly—gauntlet at the feet of digital marketers and developers worldwide. Google challenged the entire internet to either become mobile-friendly or suffer the consequences of lower rankings.
We’ll take a pragmatic look at these new mobile-friendly guidelines, and we’ll also review some that we predict Google will focus on in the future.

THE NUTS AND BOLTS OF MOBILEGEDDON

Here’s what’s on Google’s current mobile-friendly checklist:
1) Your website’s text size. The text on your website needs to be readable on mobile devices!
Example: We’re big fans of SEMRush here at Plan Left, which is why it makes us very sad that the text on its website is too small to read on our mobile phones. Can you read what’s on their home page below? We can’t either!






2) Your website’s content. The content on your website needs to be sized to a mobile screen when viewed on a mobile device.
Example: TheHairpin.com is an eclectic mix of essays, advice, and entertainment news which cannot, unfortunately, be enjoyed on a mobile phone:






3) Your website’s links. The links on your site must be a reasonable distance apart. We’re all thumbs when it comes to typing on our mobile devices, so having links an appropriate distance from each other is necessary. (Note: have you noticed that numbers one through three are variations on a theme? Google wants websites visited via mobile devices to be useable.)
Example: W. W. Norton is one of my favorite publishers, so I’m disappointed that their site isn’t mobile-friendly. When I visited it on my mobile phone, I found it very difficult, if not impossible, to click on the individual book categories found on the left of their home page:






(Note: for all you internet-savvy folk, I highly recommend W. W. Norton’s The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains by Nicholas Carr. It was a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize in 2011, and it will push you toward a more meaningful digital existence.)
4) Flash. If you’re still using Flash on your website, you need to stop. Why? Many mobile phones don’t support Flash.
Example: Want to check out the 24-hour music video Pharrell Williams created for “Happy” while you’re camped out in line at the DMV in the hopes it’ll put you in a better mood? Too bad! You can’t; its website is built in Flash.





 

GOOGLE’S MOBILE UPDATES OF THE FUTURE

We like to plan for the future at Plan Left, so we’ve compiled a list of mobile site issues we believe Google will address in the next few waves of mobile updates. Like the issues on Google’s present mobile-friendly checklist, we’ve focused on usability:
1) In order to create a true device-agnostic experience, your mobile site should offer the same options as its desktop version. Google is now quite adept at understanding cross-platform user behavior, so it makes sense that Google could begin to monitor cross-platform consistency. In fact, Google warns us to “please be cautious about creating a ‘stripped down’ [mobile] version of your site.” 
Example: There’s no way to make a reservation for a disabled person on Megabus’s mobile website, which is something you can on their desktop site.






2) Your mobile website must have an appropriate text size. Google already pays attention to text size on mobile sites, of course, but we predict they’ll focus more closely on it in the future.
Example: Even though FlexJobs.com is deemed mobile-friendly by Google, its text can hardly be read on a mobile device. It’s too small to be truly mobile-friendly.






3) Your mobile site’s title and your desktop site’s title should match. If the name of your website doesn’t match the name of your business, people are less likely to trust your brand. Google has long been known to reward the trust and quality that come with brand authority, and we predict that this will soon be applied to brands' mobile sites.
Example: Would you believe that the building you just entered housed a SUBWAY if the sign on the building read “Doctor’s Associates Inc.”? I wouldn’t. Yet the title of SUBWAY’s mobile site is “Doctor’s Associates Inc.”






4) The placement of ads on a mobile site must not hinder user experience. Three years ago, Google decided to penalize websites that had thin content and multiple ads above-the-fold. We believe this Page Layout Algorithmic Improvement will be carried over to mobile sites in the near future.
Example: When you visit TheArtofManliness.com on your mobile device, the only thing you see is an ad:
 





THE BOTTOM LINE

We don’t have a crystal ball and no certified psychics work here, so we can’t say for sure what the future holds. If we learn from history, however, we know that Google never stops updating their algorithms, all in the name of giving users the best possible experiences. We can be reasonably certain that the suggested changes above will some day be required. If you want to avoid a future mobilegeddon, you could go ahead and make those changes now. You’re already sprucing up your site to meet the current requirements, so why not go the extra mile and save yourself heartache later?
Do you want to know if you have a mobile-friendly website? Google’s provided a way for you to easily check. 
Do you still have questions? Let us know! We’re here to help.
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