by sheilaedens | Jun 13, 2010 | Mobile Web
The last posts that I wrote was on mobile websites and being mobile ready. If you are a business owner, new or seasoned, you want to maximize your income and that means that you must be marketing ready at all times. That means that the traditional marketing methods may not be the best method for you during your marketing campaigns. To be current we must spend time researching and learning, marketing is no different. New methods are arriving. You can research and incorporate or you can let your assistant handle it. Mobile ready websites are a big part of marketing now. Learn how to use m-commerce to:     – Increase your income     – Increase your visibility     – Increase your authority     – Increase your profits – and profitability! Mobile technology is about interacting with your followers, subscribers, visitors and clients anywhere… at any time of the day or night. How you can be mobile ready? Download my free report —  Why You Need Mobile Ready...
by sheilaedens | Jun 6, 2010 | Mobile Web
Facebook and Twitter are two of the most user-friendly sites on the mobile web – and that's great news for those who are going mobile with their websites, because it means people can right-click on bit.ly links in Twitter – and be automatically taken to a mobile version of your site, if they're accessing it from Twitter. The best way to accomplish this is to set up redirects, so that whenever a user is detected on a mobile, it goes straight to the mobile version of your site. There are several ways to do this, all based on detecting browser screen size. The easiest method I've seen comes from www.justtechnika.com, and involves inserting a small piece of JavaScript code on your main website, “anywhere between <head> and </head>”. (I'd recommend right at the bottom of your page, so as not to interfere with search engine bots and site SEO.) I tried the piece of code provided – and it worked! I don't have permission to reproduce the code – I only found it today, and there's been no time to contact the blog owner, but you can find the article with the code snippet at the following link: http://justtechnika.com/articles/find-mobile-visitors-to-your-website-and-redirect-them-to-your-mobile-site/ Treat Your Mobile Website like A Tweet So you've successfully redirected them to the mobile version of your website – now what? If you're re-writing a shortened, condensed version of your main website, treat it like a Twitter tweet: Just hit the high points, and strip out all the filler. (One thing Twitter has done for us since its inception: Turned us into effective self-editors!) Think of your mobile site...
by sheilaedens | Jun 5, 2010 | Mobile Web
Image via CrunchBase Just as Twitter is a micro-blog version of regular blogs, allowing only “posts” of 140 characters, stripped down to the bare minimum, so mobile websites are stripped down versions of “main” websites, showing only the most important information. What constitutes “the most important information”? In a nutshell, stuff the user needs to know. Photos are gone. Graphics are gone. Ads are gone (though that is about to change, thanks to mobile advertising companies such as AdMob). Everything is strictly “need to know”. What graphics should you “keep”, when creating a mobile version of your website? Well, human beings thrive on consistency and love repetition, so by all means, keep the same colors as your main PC site (even though the layout will have to be different). If you have a “branded” business with a logo, it's a good idea to include a small version of your logo on your home page. And pay particular attention to navigation. (Remember, people are going to be accessing your information on tiny browsers – often while multi-tasking (a polite way of saying “driving”.) Which we hope not. One of the most important items to include? Reassurances about security, if your mobile website visitors are going to be doing any e-trade. One other thing to remember about many mobile devices: They don't like JavaScript, so your standard Google Analytics won't work. You can try out a commercial service, but this is where AdMob Analytics really comes into its own. (It's free, too – as is www.motally.com!) And if the thought of learning Tiny XHTML (the latest mobile website coding language) turns...
by sheilaedens | Jun 4, 2010 | Mobile Web, WordPress
If you have a blog, don't assume it will translate perfectly to mobile:Â Chances are, it has at least 2 columns, and runs ads, graphics and is set for a screen width that's (at absolute minimum) 760 px wide. Besides, even if it was able to load in and emerge with a readable format, you need to remember that many people are paying heavily for each megabyte downloaded on their mobiles (not to mention for the time)… and they're not going to wait twenty minutes for all your graphics and plug-ins to load. One superb and very user-friendly plug in is WordPress Mobile edition. If you can't find it by searching the plug-in section via your blog Dashboard, you can easily download it from WordPress.org's plug-in section. (It even allows comments – something that is often a problem.) One word of caution: If you have one of the smaller mobile phones, avoid the popular Carrington theme recommended on the WordPress.org WordPress Mobile editions page.) According to WordPress.org, this plug-in works particularly well on Blackberries, iPhones, Androids, touch phones, all wireless, and PDA. Advertising, Anyone? If you want to display ads, the Mippin Mobilize plug-in (also found at WordPress.org) is a configuration-free plug in. It works by redirecting other mobile users to Mippin's rendering of your blog. This is a nice plug-in, because it scales photographs to conform to your mobile site visitor's screen width, and converts vides to 3G format. Customization, Anyone? If you'd rather customize your blog theme somewhat, a plug-in you might like is MobilePress. This one isn't available at WordPress.org, but you can find it on...
by sheilaedens | Jun 4, 2010 | Mobile Web
If you are focused on branding your business, remember that your mobile website can help – or hurt – this process. What is “branding” exactly? The practice of creating an instantly recognizable site, logo, color scheme or any other visual “cue” that helps viewers identify it instantly with your product or business. If you've set things up properly, the advantages you can expect to reap from branding are: Your customer knows who you are and what you're about What to expect in quality, service and price Whether or not he is your favored target market (and if he is, he tends to stay loyal!) You need a strategy, if you decide to focus on branding. You need ideas and methods to keep your sites and products in front of the public eye. Coca-Cola's distinctive red-and-white colors are as much a part of its branding as its actual logo. Even when small details change, the overall feel stays the same. The Coca-Cola polar bears are instantly recognizable as part of that brand. Their graphic representation taps into 2 key elements of strong branding: Consistency Repetition Even though you don't want heavy graphics with a mobile website, small graphic elements that instantly remind people of your brand will work well. Allowing your branding to remain even through your mobile sites ensures: Potential customers think of you, the moment they see those graphic elements on their mobiles Potential customers know instantly what they're going to get – they develop either a positive or negative emotion when they see your name or logo Repetition of positive feelings brings trust – and a willingness...
by sheilaedens | Jun 4, 2010 | Mobile Web
Marketing has gone mobile. Here are some picks for the best mobile websites. What makes a great mobile website? We all have our own criteria, but basically, many of the same qualities that make good sites on PC’s. They have to be:    – Reliable    – Quick to load    – Easy to browse This latter requirement, however, differs slightly, when it comes to mobiles. “Easy to browse” means the navigation buttons can’t be too piddly-sized; shouldn’t be out of sight, and the amount of interaction (i.e. clicking and entering data) you have to do should be the absolute minimum. And if it’s a mobile version of a well-established PC website, as many components as possible should be the same (or a simplified version), making it familiar and friendly to use. Here are 6 picks for enjoyable and easy to use browsers for most mobiles. When so many sites still haven't caught on to what's happening out in the real world, these sites are refreshingly easy to access – and use. Topping the list and easily bagging the gold, m.facebook.com. You can basically use it exactly the way you would on computer. Next, the silver medal goes to m.amazon.com. Amazon has espoused the credo: “Keep It Very, Very Simple”. What this means in actual fact is that (providing you already have an Amazon account set up) you can purchase goods directly, using your mobile. The bronze medal goes to the competitor everyone loves to hate (secretly), google.com/xhtml – you can personalize it for your mobile, as well as access weather, movie times, news, and local searches. (A GPS,...