Your website visitors won't wait

A recent study in the US, as reported by Mashable, shows how important it is to have fast page load times. Quite simply, your customers will not wait for your pages to load. If they take too long they will go elsewhere.


Here are the key findings:


-  1 in 4 people abandon web pages that take longer than 4 seconds to load.
-  Half of mobile users will abandon a website if it takes longer than 10 seconds to load 
-  ... and 60% of them won't return.
-  In the US 25% of mobile web users only browse the internet on their phone.
-  79% of mobile users shop online.... 40% will only wait 3 seconds before they give up.

Browser Market Shares

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?

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

“[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?

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

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?

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.