I think the subject line tells you how I feel about the Android or iPhone debate. Aside from bigger, better, faster and more megapixels which will always be an up hill battle for all manufacturers of smartphones, here are 4 reasons why I love the Android OS over the Apple iOS.
Responsive mobile web design is a relatively new design technique that enables webpages to adapt their layout to the viewing environment. When using it, one single website can adjust to display effectively on all web-viewing platforms. No matter if your site is shown on a desktop, a tablet device, an iPhone or a Blackberry, the site’s look is reformatted and arranged for optimal display, while making it easy to read and browse without the tedious need to zoom in or slide the pages from one side to the other.
Following is an example of a website that uses responsive design:
Why use a Mobile Responsive Design
The benefits of having a Responsive Mobile Web Design are:
Responsive design and WordPress
If you have a WordPress website or are planning to start one soon you may want to consider using a mobile web design theme.
In the last few months several responsive themes have been developed. This means that you have a large variety to choose from. Even the WordPress default theme, “TwentyEleven” is responsive. My favourite theme providers Elegant Themes, StudioPress and Woothemes all have beautiful new themes that are mobile responsive.
Before choosing a theme confirm that the content is displayed logically on a mobile device. You can use this free tool provided by StudioPress to check the behavior of any website on some of the more pervasive mobile devices, i.e. iPhone, iPad and small phones.
I hope you found this article useful. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions in regards to Responsive design and/or WordPress.
I don’t even own an iPad and my family has 8 mobile friendly devices compared to our 3 personal computers. The moral of the story is everything you do online now needs to be optimized for mobile.
We are in a mobile revolution.
It doesn’t matter whether you are a hardcore Apple fanatic or you have jumped onto the Android bandwagon or maybe you’re still using a dumb phone? A few more years and dumb phones will be extinct. The fact is everything is going mobile.
Who dominates the mobile market is still in the air. The 2 front runners are iOS and Android controlling almost 80% of the market.
Source of diagram business insider Android Market Share Flattens In The U.S.
Source of Diagram is Business Insider The Future of Mobile
If only half the dumb phones have been replaced that means the other half is still to be replaced. This means the amount of mobile Internet users is about to double. Are you prepared? Can you take payment from a mobile device?
80% of my social media engagement is done with my mobile device. Marketing is activity based now. You can document what you are doing in real time, what you are learning, what you are experiencing.
If your website is 5 years old or older chances are it is not mobile friendly, heck odds are not in your favor if your website is 3 years old.
How many mobile devices do you have now?
Lately it seems like every other day the Big G is releasing some major update. In an attempt to socialize search even further, over night converted thousands of Google Places listings into Google + Local ones.
While it doesn’t appear to be fully functional yet in Canada, it is indeed coming. Presumably within the next few days.
Aside from it’s appearance, one of the biggest changes is the absence of star reviews. Google has now added 30 point Zagat reviews (they acquired the Zagat review platform last year). While Zagat has primarily been for restaurants in the past, it’s review system will now being used for everything from painters and plumbers to spas and shoe stores. Reviews are now more detailed than ever and combine multiple factors to make your rating instead of one overall rating. One more way for the Google gods to quench their thirst on more minute bites of data.
They know where you are and they’re out to get you…yes, I’m talking about evil marketers and their Mobile Marketing campaigns.
(Insert Evil Laugh)
Local based SMS marketing is one of the new kids on the block in the fast evolving world of mobile marketing. The concept is this:
Imagine walking into a mall and then receiving a notification(s) on your phone offering you some freebies or coupons from some of the mall merchants. It can be achieved using a number of technologies including mobile phone tracking, WiFi and Bluetooth.
My first thought on this is that it wouldn’t work because it isn’t permission-based marketing and Continue Reading →
By Nat Green
The world has gone mobile. Heck, your granny probably even has a cell phone. But let’s get to to the interesting part of mobile…
Raise your hand if you have a website. (Of course you do. You’re a smart business owner.)
Raise your hand if you have a mobile version of your website. (Hmmm. Only two people still have their hand up.)
I could spout off a bunch of stats about how mobile search has grown 400% in the last year or that 1 in 3 mobile searches are for local businesses, but you don’t need to hear these stats. Just look around as you ride transit, wait for dinner at your favorite restaurant, or walk down the street. People are infatuated with their smart phones!
We live in an instant society and if your website isn’t properly form formatted to be viewed on mobile devices, 40% of mobile visitors will leave and never come back. Why would they leave? Your text is tiny and hard to read. The navigation is hard to navigate. Any Flash that you have on your site is unreadable from iPhones and iPads.
Do you want to lose that potential customer? Of course not.
The good news is you can fix this. Continue Reading →
They’re Your Contacts and Your Customers, Build Your Community.
Community via Mobile.
Your customers are no longer attached to their homes, offices, and traditional media. The power is at their fingertips anytime, anywhere and they are using it. They are consuming, searching, locating, sharing and acquiring – right from the palm of their hands, 24/7.
Put Your Business in Your Customers Hands.
The Internet took the 90’s to mature; the infrastructure is set, making mobile marketing a fast fundamental shift in consumer behavior.
Nat Green, in his excellent post, “They are Doing it all Wrong”, said, “You must send your clients to a mobile friendly… ” Continue Reading →
In my last post , we discussed the importance of building a targeted list of prospects and customers for your business and some different examples of how to contact your list using the last Mobile Marketing Trends.
Of those, my favourite is a list of cell phone #’s…and for good reason.
Sending out text messages to your list of cell phone #’s is highly responsive.
Mobile list building is needed. What is it that every single successful business does and yet so many small businesses 
still fail to do?
There are all sorts of things that you should be doing in your business but for now, we’re talking about building a profitable database of prospects and customers.
Whether it is mailing addresses, email addresses or phone numbers, without compiling a list that you can send out future offers, promotions or event notifications to, you’re leaving a lot of money on the table…and none of us want that now do we? Continue Reading →
QR Codes are the name of the game. So you’re starting to see those odd looking 2dimensional bar code thingy’s starting to pop up everywhere, right?
There in every magazine on the rack, on business cards, Val-pack coupons, in store windows…I mean everywhere. Continue Reading →