Digital Intervention

Simplifying the Digital World

mobile

Make Your Website Mobile Friendly with WordPress Themes

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If you still haven’t converted your site to responsive design, or don’t know what I’m even talking about, then you will LOSE customers! Making your website mobile friendly is a necessity, not a nice-to-have. Google changed their algorithm back in 2015 and if your site is not responsive it will fall to the end of search pages. I mean really far down.

Customers are used to smooth running, easy to navigate, mobile sites like Amazon, Target or Zappos.com. It’s what your customers want – and they expect you to provide a good mobile experience. With Wordpress responsive design templates there are no excuses for you to update your site.

Click here now to see if your site is mobile friendly.

 

Mobile websites are vital to purchasing decisions and habits of consumers. Google did some research and published the graphic below. Pretty amazing.

mobile friendly

Google reported that,

“…in the USA, 94% of people with smartphones search for local information on their phones. Interestingly, 77% of mobile searches occur at home or at work, places where desktop computers are likely to be present.”

mobile digital intervention

So, what should you do? Google offers up some information here. And below are some next steps and links that will help you.

What are the next steps?

Here are some of the top FREE responsive WordPress themes. 

Do Not Follow these Digital Trends or you will be Ahead of the Game

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marketing-trends?I never heard of the Mary Meeker Digital Trends Report, but when I came across it, I have to say it’s pretty impressive. If you’re in advertising/marketing and you have been hiding under a rock, then here is your wake up call from Mary Meeker. Or as Digital Intervention likes to say “buy stock in these company’s now.” Check out her full report here Mary Meeker’s Internet Trends. This is a global view of digital trends and encapsulates the mobile and social industry in 

Meeker looks at how people around the world use the Internet, how many are on mobile, how they spend their time online, and which companies and industries stand to gain the most. Below is a segment of her slideshare presentation.

Here’s your to do list for next year in digital and mobile:

  1. Mobile Internet use is growing faster than Internet usage in general: There are 2.8 billion Internet users, up 8 percent from 2014, and 2.1 billion mobile Internet users, an increase of 23 percent.
  2. Mobile data usage rose 69 percent last year, and 55 percent of mobile data traffic is from video.
  3. In 2008, Americans spent 20 minutes a day on average with the mobile Web. This year, they spend close to three hours, more time than they spend on laptops.
  4. The mobile ad industry is still short $25 billion. Mobile commands 24 percent of time spent with media but accounts for only 8 percent of ad dollars spent.
  5. Facebook and Twitter are growing but not like they used to. Revenue per user and monthly user growth is slowing. Facebook revenue per user is at $9.36, up 29 percent over last year, but growth neared 60 percent last year. Year-over-year user growth was 13 percent last quarter, the slowest growth ever.
  6. Twitter revenue per user was $5.14, an increase of 45 percent over last year, whereas growth was 80 percent last year at this time. User growth was 18 percent, down from 25 percent a year ago.
  7. The mobile ad industry as a whole grew 34 percent year over year, while desktop digital advertising only grew 11 percent.
  8. Mobile ads are getting more motion but in short bursts. There are four new styles of ad: Pinterest’s Cinematic Pins, Vessel 5-second video ads, Facebook Carousel ads, Google Local Inventory Ads.
    mobile trends
  9. Buy buttons equal optimized for mobile, and they have popped up across Google, Facebook and Twitter.
  10. Vertical screens and vertical content are a big deal now with 29 percent of people’s daily screen time spent looking at smartphones. Five years ago, time spent in front of such vertical-oriented screens was only 5 percent of overall viewing time.
  11. Snapchat is all about vertical ads and says users watch them until the end nine times more frequently than they watch horizontal ads in its app.
  12. Snapchat now has 100 million daily active users, and the app generates 2 billion video views a day. One event like Coachella can draw 40 million video views to Snapchat Live Stories.
  13. Facebook gets 4 billion video views a day, 75 percent of which are from phones.
  14. Pinterest is getting manlier with the number of men’s fashion pins up almost 100 percent over a year ago—car and motorcycle pins were up 120 percent.
  15. Watching video games like it’s TV is becoming a top entertainment choice. Video game streaming site Twitch has 100 million monthly users now, an increase of or 122 percent.
  16. Twitch can draw 1 million viewers at the same time.
  17. Teens continue to be trendsetters. The five most important social networks for U.S. teens, in order, are Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat and Tumblr.
  18. E-commerce is starting to pick up, with $300 billion in spending last year representing 9 percent of retail sales. E-sales accounted for less than 1 percent of retail revenue in 1998.
  19. Alibaba, China’s e-commerce giant, has more than $350 billion worth of merchandise on its platform. Amazon has closer to $100 billion worth.
  20. Online, on-demand platforms are growing. Airbnb, for instance, has booked 35 million guests—25 million of those were in the last year. Uber drivers are up sixfold to more than 1 million. Etsy has 1.4 million sellers, up 26 percent.
    etsy
  21. The average Etsy seller makes $1,400 a year. The average Airbnb host makes $7,700 a year in New York.
  22. China is huge and can be big for content. A documentary about smog, Under the Dome, got 200 million views in three days, and 41 percent came from the messaging app WeChat.
  23. WeChat can be used for government services, too, in China, where it has 550 million users.
  24. India will be the next frontier, opening opportunities for Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, LinkedIn and Amazon.

Digital Eye Candy

ASUS Launches Their Flagship Phone – The ZenFone 2

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Updated: Android Headlines recent review of the ASUS Zenfone 2 – June 5, 2015

One-M9-vs-Zenfone-2-cam-AH“I too was surprised, but the high-end specs – Intel processor, 4GB of RAM, the ability to expand memory and the price, just make it too hard not to declare the ASUS ZenFone 2 the winner of this comparison.

The HTC One M9 is a great device, and if you demand an all-metal exterior and BoomSound, then by all means, pick yourself up a One M9 and you should be very happy.  It takes good photos and even though the Snapdragon 810 may warm up your metal enclosure, it is a solid buy…maybe if it had the QHD display, things could be different.

When you look at the display size, the design – which looks great – and then add in a very competent Intel Atom processor, 4GB or RAM, a good camera and 64GB of storage for only $299, how can you pass that up…I know that I could not, and picked the ASUS ZenFone 2 as the winner of this comparison.”

Full story – http://bit.ly/1IqkOZN

 

The theme today was “Incredible Comes to New York”, ASUS Chairman Jonney Shih Announced. Today at 1pm Digital Intervention attended the launch of the new ASUS ZenFone 2. The whole event was hosted by ASUS at the Gotham Hall in NYC. If you have never been to the hall before, it is a unique experience. And the atmosphere was definitely a “Zen like” moment. See our Live Blog from today.

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Let’s get to the phone though. We had some hands-on time with the ZenFone 2, and it’s a pretty fast device. They are releasing it many colors and textures – see image below. The phone is very light and has a plastic back, but the curved design fits nicely in your hand. We’ll be testing and using the phone over the next week, so look for future notes and review.

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Availability of ZenFone 2 in North America

AVAILABILITY & PRICING

QUICK SUMMARY: The ASUS ZenFone 2 will be available in red, black, gray and silver from May 19th, 2015, costing $199 for the 2GB RAM/1.8GHz version with 16GB storage and an Intel Atom Z3560 processor, or $299 for the 4GB RAM/2.3GHz version with 64GB storage, an Intel Atom Z3580 processor and a BoostMaster charger. It will be available to order from Amazon.com, B&H, Groupon.com and NewEgg.com in the US and NewEgg.ca, NCIX.com, Canada Computer and Memory Express in Canada.

ZE551_family03New York, NY (May 18th, 2015) — ASUS Chairman Jonney Shih today introduced ZenFone 2 and the latest ZenBook models to the United States and Canada at the Incredible Comes to New York press event. Hosted at the sophisticated and stylish Gotham Hall in Manhattan, the event showcased a line-up of meticulously-crafted products in their North American debut and featured a stunning acrobatic dance performance creatively highlighting photography with ZenFone 2.

“ZenFone 2 is the flagship ASUS smartphone designed to be
an empowering luxury for everyone to enjoy.”

The ZenFone 2 features a 13 MP camera with ASUS-exclusive PixelMaster camera technology, the brand-new ZenUI user interface, Dual-SIM, Dual-Active (DSDA) capability, and incredible performance that delivers a premium smartphone experience to users. ZenFone 2 is coming to market in the United States unlocked and contract-free, giving users freedom to enjoy the smartphone on the service provider of their choice.

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Making an appearance at the event was digital artist and Instagram sensation Robert Jahns, who endorsed the ZenFone 2 See What Others Can’t See photography campaign, a global campaign designed to showcase the advantages of ZenFone 2’s PixelMaster camera technology.

At the end of the day…

The ZenFone 2 is a decent smartphone, with great specs, and at a great price. The performance is delivered by a 64-bit Intel® Atom™ Z3580 (‘Moorefield’) processor with up to 4GB RAM. An Intel LTE-Advanced modem provides ultra-fast and reliable 4G/LTE connectivity. 

ZenFone 2’s 13MP PixelMaster camera with its f/2.0 wide-aperture lens lets users quickly and easily capture beautiful, high-resolution photos with zero shutter-lag. Camera features, including Low Light mode, Backlight (Super HDR) mode, and Super Resolution mode, ensure incredible photos even in dimly lit situations.

ZenFone 2 has a 3000mAh battery that provides more than enough power to get through the day, and it also features BoostMaster fast-charge technology for dramatically-reduced recharge times. The battery can be super charged in 10 minutes giving you 4 hours of talk time. Wow!

Here are some photos from today’s media event and launch party in NYC at the Gotham.

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Mobilegeddon Is Upon Us – Is Your Website Mobile Friendly?

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MOBILEGEDDON is almost here. Are you ready?

On April 21, Google is changing the algorithm for its mobile search, putting websites that are deemed “mobile friendly” higher in the mobile search rankings. It also means that websites that have had high rankings in search results could lose their prominent positions if they are not optimized for mobile devices. If you didn’t get the Google memo your website may be at the bottom of search this April. So, the good news is that mobile sites will rank higher. The bad news is that mobile sites will rank higher (than a non – friendly mobile site). It depends on which site you have. Do you even know?

CHECK YOUR SITE NOW. Is it mobile friendly?

Enter your URL to see if your site is mobile friendly.

mobile friendly test 1

 If your website passes the test, the screen will look like this.

mobile friendly test 2

 

“This change will affect mobile searches in all languages worldwide and will have a significant impact in our search results,” Google noted in a blog post.

“Consequently, users will find it easier to get relevant, high-quality search results that are optimized for their devices.” But, for companies that have put off updating their websites to make them mobile friendly, you will fall to the bottom of the pile.

Google-Mobile-mobilegeddon chart

According to Search Engine Land, the following are three recommendations to start assessing and optimizing your mobile web search presence. In doing so, you will provide the best experience to your mobile users:

  1. Identify & Improve Your Mobile Web Optimization Status
    Even if you have a mobile-ready site, it’s important to dig deeper by doing a mobile SEO audit so Google can correctly identify and serve your mobile content. Start by validating your site with Google’s mobile friendly test tool, making sure the site resources such as images, CSS, JS are also crawlable.
  2. Assess Your Mobile Web Search Visibility & Traffic Behavior
    In Google Webmaster Tools, identify the top queries and top pages in mobile search with the “Mobile” filter of the Search Queries report.Are the top queries and pages in mobile search the same as those in desktop search, or are they different?
    Are your mobile users searching for the same information in the same way as your desktop users?
    Which queries have a high click-through rate (CTR) despite not being in the first positions? Which ones have a low CTR despite ranking well?
    Which search queries and pages are trending upwards in traffic and rankings? Which are trending downwards?
    Further your understanding of mobile search visibility and user behavior by analyzing your mobile traffic in Google Analytics with a mobile organic advanced segment.
  3. Establish Your Mobile Web Search Competitiveness & Monitor Your Performance
    Use tools like SEMrush, SearchMetrics, Sistrix or SimilarWeb to discover the keywords for which your mobile search competitors are ranking, and use this information to identify more potential keywords to target.Once you’ve compiled a list of keywords your competitors are ranking for, you can combine them with the keywords from your top mobile search queries report in Google Webmaster Tools to create a master list of keywords.Segment these keywords into categories and perform keyword research with the Google Keyword Planner. Aside from suggesting potential new keyword ideas, the Keyword Planner allows you to view “Mobile Trends” and see a “Breakdown by Device,” which will give you an idea of mobile search volume and trends over time. This data will allow you to prioritize the keywords with the highest potential.

See full article from SEL. 

At the end of the day, this is all good. And to Google’s defense they have been talking and warning about this for years. Yes years. So bring it on – I’m ready.

Digital Innovation 2015 Summit Hits NYC

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The Digital Innovation Summits were in New York City this week, which included sessions on strategy, mobile, and digital marketing. The combination of these summits provided some great thinking and thought provoking ideas on how to provide better digital strategy for customers. One speaker in particular, Lowell Doppelt from QUID, provided great examples of big data visualization opportunities. The QUID platform provides algorithms that humans and machines can appreciate. Markets, trends and cultural phenomena are all visualized in byte sized chunks.

quid

Another interesting aspect of this summit was the use of instant feedback powered by Sli.do. This robust platform provided a great tool for feedback, questions and social sharing – live at the summit. This simplistic tool is great for agencies, businesses and entrepreneurs, when hosting live conferences.

line at showHallway conversations:

  • ‘Tracking with “Cookies” will most likely disappear by the end of this year. What will replace it? Who else – but Google.’
  • “Customers are not just going to the home page anymore and surfing – they are getting right to specific articles or content.”

CNN reports that:

  • They create 8-10 videos a day
  • 50% of their traffic is from mobile
  • Snapchat has become one of their most important demographics to deliver news
    • They are 1 of 11 publishers for snapchat DISCOVER (See my recent post on Snapchat)
    • They have a special unit to deliver content to Snapchat
    • 80% of their Snapchat audience is age 13-28. No surprise there.
    • Snapchat users come back 22 times a day

 buzzfeed

Buzzfeed reported on a new App just launched – The new Tinder for pets!

audibleAudible said:

  • Spending quality time on UX before developing is vital
  • The hamburger navigation is dead!
  • Gestures and functionality need to match your intended audience UX habits

 

 

 

 

At the end of the day, knowing your audience and understanding their habits will help provide the right strategy and a targeted program. Designing and planning for several platforms really needs to be thought out. If you think about how info will display on “Watches”, the task gets daunting. What would your message be? How would you plan for that?

Start here with the Google developers.

 

 

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