News, views and pictures from eberlin Web Design

Browser Market Shares

2012-03-01T16:38:00.000Z

I haven't written about the latest market shares of web browsers, so here they for February 2012 as recorded by NetMarketShare

Desktop

Internet Explorer still leads the pack at 52.8%

Firefox retains second place with a share of 20.9%

Google's Chrome is in third place with a share of 18.9% and rising all the time. It is likely to overtake Firefox soon.

Apple's Safari is hovering around the 5% mark.

Mobile

However, for mobile browsing, Safari dominates thanks to the ubiquity of the iPhone and iPad. It stands at 61% in February 2012.

Android has just under 19%, while Blackberry languishes at under 1.7%.

Is Pinterest useful?

2012-02-20T13:05:00.000Z

Pinterest is the latest in a long line of social media platforms that is getting a fair bit of press at the moment.

What is Pinterset?

It is a place to thematically share images that you like, or find inspiring on the internet.

On their about page, Pinterest describe themselves as a "virtual pinboard."

"Our goal is to connect everyone in the world through the 'things' they find interesting. We think that a favorite book, toy, or recipe can reveal a common link between two people. With millions of new pins added every week, Pinterest is connecting people all over the world based on shared tastes and interests."

Is it any good and is worth spending some time on?

As with all social media platforms, it depends on how many people are using it, and whether you can engage with them effectively.

I have quickly built up a few followers from my usual circle of 'early adopter' suspects and I am enjoying using it to collect favourite and inspirational images.

Will Pinterest be of use? That remains to be seen, but there is some interesting research suggesting it may have a bright future.

Driving traffic to your website

According to market data carried out by Shareaholic in January, Pinterest provides more referral traffic than YouTube, LinkedIn and Google+. It is also growing its share rapidly (up 2.5% to 3.6% between December 2011 and January 2012). It now sits just behind Twitter in the league table.

However, Facebook still dominates referral traffic (26.4% in January).

Using Pinterest to promote your business

Pinterest could provide much potential to visually inspire and engage with your customers...

You could use it to get feedback from customers about the look and feel of your new product or design or shop layout.

Or, showcase how your customers are using your products. A clothing store could have a picture of one of their customers in one of their outfits. This gives potential customers inspiration and make existing ones who are 'pinned,' feel special.

Find out more

Here is a good beginners guide provided by those fine people at Mashable explaining a bit more about Pinterest and how you can use it.

You are also welcome to email me or give me a call to discuss ways to integrate Pinterest within your online marketing strategy.

A quotation on photography

2012-02-09T23:16:00.001Z

“[photography] is, of course, a lucky miracle of timing. But when you see an unbelievable confluence of chance in a photograph, remember that the operator was there, booted and spurred.”

So said Walker Evans in 1969 when discussing the work of Helen Levitt.

What kind of tweets do people like to read?

2012-02-08T11:00:00.002Z

New research by Carnegie Mellon’s School of Computer Science has some interesting findings on which tweets work and which don't. In summary:

People liked:

1) Questions to followers - in particular ones that made followers stop and think.

2) Sharing information

3) Self promotion - specifically links to what you have created rather than saying how awesome you are...

4) Random posts - especially if they are humorous.

People didn't like:

1) Announcing your presence e.g. "Hello Tweeps!"

2) Conversations between 2 or 3 people - use email!

How to write good tweets

DON'T be boring, or share old news, or moan.

REDUCE clutter such as hash tags or @ mentions. Let the tweet content shine through!

DO add context to a tweet (e.g. if you are sharing a link say why, if you are doing a Follow Friday say why this person or organisation should be followed etc)

BE funny, concise, relevant and of course, engage with your followers.

There, that's easy isn't it....?

Here is a link to the study.

Here is a link to the Freelance Switch article that has a good summary of the report.

An Open Letter to Kodak

2012-01-20T13:03:00.001Z

Like many, I am sad to see Kodak file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. For me, this has extra resonance as I worked for Kodak between 1999 - 2006 and have a great deal of respect and affection for the company and the time I spent there.

It is clear that their failure to successfully transition to a digital company is the cause for their current predicament. Despite inventing the technology for digital cameras, Kodak focused on sustaining their highly profitable film business for far too long and did not focus on developing a viable digital business.

You only have to see the numerous articles in the media to see the fondness and nostalgia that many people have for Kodak. So there is plenty of brand equity that can be used to develop a lean but profitable business.

So, here are some thoughts about how Kodak could survive in the future. These ideas would fundamentally change Kodak's business model but could at least keep the brand alive.

1) Focus on film.

Think of all the iconic photos taken with Kodak film.

It may be niche but if you look around there is plenty of nostalgia for analogue photography. Think of the surge in popularity of Lomography, Instagram and Polaroid film via The Impossible Project. Moreover film is profitable.

2) Re-introduce Kodachrome.

People mourned the demise of this legendary film. The famous Afghan Girl photo by Steve McCurry was taken with Kodachrome. Think of the positive statement of intent that would be made as part of a relaunch of the Kodak brand.

3) Go retro

Fuji have successfully developed high quality retro cameras such as the X100 and there is lots of excitement around the soon to be launched XPro 1. Olympus are about to launch an updated OM digital camera.

Kodak has the iconic Box Brownie and the Instamatic. How about relaunching those with a modern twist?

4) Create a retail experience

There are vey few camera shops that offer an engaging customer experience.

There is an opportunity to develop a new type of photo shop that is an exciting place to go to meet the demands and excitement people have around all aspects of photography.

It could sell camera gear, film, niche products (like instant cameras, classic film cameras, pinhole cameras), a wide selection of photo books and offer inspirational photo walks or classes. Kodak, with the affection that it has with the public is well placed to reposition itself and offer this.

So, just a few thoughts. I might even consider giving up self employment and return to commuting up the M4 if they had the vision to implement some of these ideas.... but perhaps not.

Why has Wikipedia blacked out today?

2012-01-18T10:09:00.001Z

For very good reason.

It is in protest against proposed legislation in the US to stop online piracy of media content. While stopping piracy is a laudable aim, the way that the bill proposes to enforce the legislation would "set a frightening precedent of internet censorship" according to Jimmy Wales, the founder of Wikipedia.

The issue is that not only individuals could be jailed, but any website facilitating piracy could be shut down too.

As it says in the Wikipedia article:

The proposed legislation seeks to take down sites entirely, because courts and others simply don't have time to worry about the nuances of copyright law and free expression. That is what is troubling. When the remedies are bludgeons, when entire sites are taken down, when everyone assumes that all content is infringing because some is, we lose something important.

We lose the nuances of copyright about which our community cares, we lose our values based on protecting free speech, we lose what we represent. The Internet cannot turn into a world where free expression is ignored to accomodate overly simple solutions that gratify powerful rightowners who spend lots of money to promote the regulation of expression.

There are better ways, like the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, to find the right approach to legitimate copyright enforcement without trampling on free expression. SOPA and PIPA don't represent these values, and for that reason we ask you to oppose these bills.

The changes in our shopping habits

2012-01-13T09:48:00.000Z

Tesco are experiencing a decline in sales after an uninterrupted period of growth spanning decades.

Is this merely a reflection of the tough economic climate, or is it saying something more about the underlying trends in our shopping habits?

A fascinating article in todays Guardian suggests that we are indeed changing our shopping habits meaning that the big weekly shop and the continued expansion of massive hypermarkets may be coming to an end.

Our food shopping habits are becoming more fragmented:

1) More people carefully research for the lowest price and are prepared to go from one supermarket to another for the cheapest item

2) More people shop daily from convenience stores

3) More people shop online (online shopping is +16% year on year - it is now worth £68.2bn)

4) More people "click and collect." This accounted for over 10.4% of shopping in the third quarter of 2011 (up from 7.4% in the previous quarter).

Our consumer behaviour is changing and the impact on the supermarkets and our local high streets will lead to a much altered retail landscape in the next few years.

How shops can ride this change remains to be seen.

Here is a link to the full article.

Meeting Place Communications Team Photos

2012-01-07T17:22:00.000Z

I was asked to take photos of the Meeting Place Communications team at their recent New Year Kick Off Event at the Bath Priory.

Rather than taking posed mugshots of unwilling subjects, we opted to take more relaxed photos of people chatting around the table.

I'm quite pleased with the results. You can see some more photos from the meeting here.

New EU regulations on Cookies

2012-01-05T14:23:00.000Z

No, not those delicious biscuits, but cookies used for websites.

Definition of a cookie

For those who don't know what a cookie is, it is something that is on most websites that you visit and they are used to gather information about your visit.

This clearly has privacy implications which is why the EU are regulating their use.

However, cookies can be extremely helpful if you are, for example, visiting an online shop and you want them to remember your delivery details. It saves you time filling in the same data over and over again.

Cookies are also used by Google Analytics to track visitor behaviour so that website performance can be monitored and improved.

What do website owners need to do about this EU regulation?

This is still open to clarification, but the EU have now published guidelines which are expertly summarised by Paul Boag in this article. He has also provided a link to the full guidelines.

He advises you, or your web designer (could be me!), to find out what cookies are being used on your website.

All the websites I design have Google Analytics which do store cookies. It looks as though you might not need to ask for people to positively accept this via a potentially annoying pop up, but you may need to advise your visitors that the website does indeed have these cookies.

I will keep an eye out for any further clarifications and post them on this blog.

Albums of the Year 2011

2012-01-02T15:10:00.001Z

Here is the list that many of you may have been waiting for ... my favourite albums of the year:

1) Build a Rocket Boys by Elbow

2) The English Riviera by Metronomy

3) Skying by The Horrors

4) The King of Limbs by Radiohead

5) Let England Shake by P J Harvey

6) Euphoric /// Heartrbreak by Glasvegas

7) The Cold Still by Boxer Rebellion

8) Destroyed by Moby

9) Smother by Wild Beasts

10) A Different Kind of Fix by Bombay Bicycle Club

Wishing you a happy 2012!

Web page speeds

2011-12-23T12:57:00.000Z

An article on the BBC website reports that the page sizes on the top websites have grown 33% in the last twelve months.

This doesn't surprise me. With the increase in interactive adverts I have noticed that some pages take far too long to download.

Why is this so important?

Firstly, Google measures the speed of your website and will reward you with higher rankings if they download fast.

Secondly, more people access the web on their smartphones with slower network speeds.

So the lesson is, strip away superfluous content and animations and ensure that each of your web pages is focused on what is needed.

Measure your Twitter Influence

2011-12-22T11:02:00.003Z

I have just come across Kred which is a website that measures your influence on Twitter and could help you improve the way you use the platform.

The difference between this and the other main social analytics tool, Klout, is that Kred explains how your numbers add up.

You can also add in offline activities to see if that boosts your score. So if you are President of the USA, you get 500,000 points! If you run half marathons, you get 2000 points....

It's worth checking out and you can have some fun comparing your scores with people you know too.

How consumers are interacting with brands on social media

2011-12-16T11:07:00.000Z

Here is a link to an interesting article and infographic from aytm (ask your target market) about how consumers interact with brands on Facebook and Twitter.

Key takeaways:

74% Facebook users visit daily

58% Facebook users have 'liked' a brand

80% wants coupons, discounts and promotions, compared to 8% who want brand news and 5% who have questions....

32% get updates from their brands via social media, 27% via email marketing, 22% via traditional offline ads

Why Google+ will endure

2011-12-15T10:34:00.003Z

Below is a link to a very interesting interview with Chris Brogan and why he thinks Google+ will become an established social media platform.

I am inclined to agree:

1) Google has deep pockets

2) Google are integrating Google+ with their popular products including Gmail, YouTube, Blogger and Reader.

3) Google dominates the search market and the more your Google+ profile works with your search, the more relevant it will become.

Here is the article.

Enjoy!

Online shopping infographic

2011-12-12T09:54:00.003Z

Thanks to Neil at from you to me for sending me this useful infographic from Zone Alarm with some statistics about online shopping at Christmas and how to be more secure.

Social media news round up

2011-12-07T08:13:00.005Z

Just a few news stories that have recently come to light:

Flipboard is being launched for the iPhone in the Apple App Store later today. This has been a very popular app on the iPad for looking at various social media feeds and popular websites.

Facebook Timelines is beginning to rollout after testing. New Zealand will be the first country to see its features.

Geolocation app Foursquare now has 15 million users. Whilst it continues to grow, this is still a low penetration of smartphone users. With Facebook's recent purchase of Gowalla (seemingly a talent grab) the future of geolocation marketing looks like it will be dominated by Facebook Places.

What's new in Google Analytics?

2011-12-06T12:33:00.001Z

Google has been introducing its new design across its various products over recent weeks. This has included a major overhaul of Google Analytics.

Five new features that are particularly interesting:

1) Real time statistics
I think I may waste a lot of time looking at these! You can now see who is looking at your website as it happens instead of waiting 24 hours. You can see how long they spend on the site, which pages they are looking at, whether they are a new or returning visitor and so much more.

Read more from the Google Analytics blog.

2) Site Speed
Google has been hinting that page load times are now an important factor in organic search rankings and so this feature becomes an important metric to measure your website success.

3) Visitor flow
There is a new way of visualising how your visitors go from page to page which makes it easier to see their behaviour.

Read more from the Google Analytics blog.

4) Social Engagement
There is now a report which measures how successful your website is engaging with your visitors. The report tells you how many Google +1, Facebook 'Likes' and tweets each page is receiving.

5) Keyword Cloud
Finally, another visual change which helps you see important information quickly. This shows what keywords your site visitors are searching for that come to your site.

If would like more information on these new features, or feel that it's time for a review of your website, please contact me.

Thanks for reading.

Using social media to attract customers

2011-12-05T07:51:00.001Z

Here is a link to an interesting article about attracting customers using social media.

This is the main objective for many businesses using social media. It's not easy, nor an exact science, but with focus it can be done.

There are two passages from the article that are particularly interesting. The first is from Joe Chernov, VP of Content Marketing at Eloqua:

Social media allows marketers to do two things they couldn’t do before: scale one-to-one conversations and publish their own content without a media partner

The second observation is from Carolyn Everson, Facebook’s VP of Global Sales who

... told attendees at a media event earlier this year that she considered acquiring “Likes” to be the second phase for marketers on Facebook after setting up a brand Page. The third was using Facebook to cultivate your biggest and most-engaged fans

Here is a link to the original article from Mashable

Kingston Mill Photos

2011-11-29T21:59:00.001Z

Since I moved to Bradford on Avon in 2006, seeing the Kingston Mill site being transformed has been fascinating.

I have taken a series of photos throughout the process and I am currently editing them into a book.

The development is an exciting one for the town. The site stood derelict for 15 years and is now host to new homes and shops. Soon, new restaurants will open too and the regeneration will be compete.

Thoughts on Google+

2011-11-29T10:24:00.001Z

Google+ was launched 5 months ago as Google's latest attempt to establish a popular social media platform to rival Facebook and Twitter.

Recent figures suggest it has registered users in excess of 40m (whereas Facebook has over 700m and rising, Twitter has 200m). This is a meteoric rise and they got to that number much quicker than their rivals.

I personally think they have done a good job introducing new functionality. My particular favourite is Circles which enables you to divide your contacts into groups and communicate different things to each circle.

I also find it easier to use than Facebook and it looks better.

At present there are a lack of active users.

I do have a number of contacts on there but, like me, they still use Twitter or Facebook more.

There is also a fair amount of repetition between Facebook posts, tweets and RSS feeds. This is understandable while people take time to decide how to best use each different social media platform.

The future

I think Google+ will succeed. Maybe not in it's current format, but the fact that it is being integrated into YouTube and Google Search (via the +1 button) means that it will be present in most peoples lives one way or another.

Google+ Pages

Google+ pages have recently been launched for businesses and organisations.

I will write more about this in a future post.