A new report from Adobe has shown that despite the ongoing rise in mobile browsing and purchasing, nearly half (45%) of businesses still haven’t optimised their websites for mobile use. Just 7% have built mobile apps for their clients and customers to download, and only 21% have both a mobile-optimised site and an app working in conjunction.

Access to the internet using mobile devices has more than doubled over the last couple of years, so it is essential that companies that aren’t geared up for mobile traffic get themselves ready –fast. There are three main options for businesses who want to build a mobile offering for their client base:

• Mobile websites 

  A mobile website is a site that is specifically built for mobile viewing, and is often a smaller, scaled-down version of your regular site 

• Responsive web design 

  Responsive web design means that you only have to build one website, and it will respond to the medium it is viewed on, and adapt to the needs of tablet and smartphone users 

• Apps 

  Apps are a standalone option, developed separately to the original website, and often offer innovative functions such as wishlists and competitions.

All three options have their benefits and disadvantages, but it’s certainly worth investigating at least one of them for your business. For more information about optimising your company website for mobile devices, visit our Mobile Websites page.

Have you optimised your website for mobile users? If not, a new infographic from DemandForce and Column Five has shown the many ways that your business could be losing out.

According to the infographic, as of 2012 mobile traffic now accounts for 10% of mobile use of all internet usage around the globe, but 90% of websites are still not ready to be optimised. The following statistics therefore don’t come as a huge surprise:

• 61% of users will leave quickly if websites are not optimised properly for mobile devices
• 48% feel frustrated and annoyed when they visit non mobile-friendly site
• 48% say that when sites don’t work well on their smartphones, it makes them feel like the companies don’t care about their custom
• 67% are more likely to buy from mobile friendly sites
• 52% of those who have had bad mobile experiences are less likely to engage with the companies at fault

If you want to avoid the negative statistics and reap the benefits of the positive ones, you need to get working on your mobile options right away. Fortunately, the infographic also reveals customer priorities when it comes to the interface.

• 69% want bigger buttons that are easier to press
• 78% want swift navigation to desired information (1-2 clicks) 
• 76% want a better smartphone screen fit 
• 74% want a clean and efficient look and feel
• 73% want an easy ability to save information on the site for future reference

So now you know what to include on your mobile website, it’s time to get cracking. As the infographic says, you snooze, you lose!

Tablets may have only become widely available about 3 years ago, but their importance is becoming more and more evident by the day. New research from Adobe has shown that tablets now account for more web traffic than smartphones (albeit by 1%). Tablets are now responsible for 8% of web traffic, whilst smartphones account for just 7%.

Whilst the difference may seem minor, this is an important finding for business owners and web designers alike. Smartphones and tablets are both technically mobile devices, but user spending habits have actually proved to be rather diverse.

According to Adobe, tablet users spend 54% per online order than their smartphone using counterparts, and 19% more than desktop users. Whether this is because tablet users are more likely to have expendable income, considering the large initial upfront payment for the device itself, or the fact that they are easier to use thanks to their larger screen size, has not yet been determined, but either way, companies need to make sure that their website is suitable for any user that wishes to access it – using the device of their choice.

Ultimately, mobile devices in general now account for around 15% of total web traffic – if your website isn’t yet optimised for mobile use, you could be missing out on a significant portion of your potential audience.

Choosing responsive web design is, for many companies, a no brainer. In a world where more than half of UK consumers own a smartphone, and almost 20% own a tablet, optimising your website so that it provides a consistent viewing experience across a variety of platforms just seems to make sense. However, there are a number of companies out there who still aren’t convinced of the benefits. If you’re one of them, maybe a look at our three top reasons for choosing responsive web design will change your mind.

• You’ll only need to build one site

  Yes, you can create apps for mobile devices, or multiple versions of your site, but why bother? Using responsive web design streamlines your entire web development process, so that you can focus on creating one well structured, easy to use version – whilst saving time, money and additional hassle in the process.

• You’ll be one step ahead of the competition

  Responsive web design is still a relatively new concept, and many businesses are talking about it without actually doing it. If you bite the bullet and implement responsive web design first, you’ll be offering your users a much more satisfactory experience than the underdeveloped websites of your competitors – making them more likely to use (and recommend!) your services.

• It can boost your SEO efforts

  Kristina Kledik of SEOmoz.org says that responsive web design can also work wonders for your SEO campaign. She puts this down to three essential reasons – its excellent usability, reduction of duplicate content, and ability to build links (“with responsive web design, a link to your main site is a link to your mobile site as well”). In fact, in June last year, Google was asked about responsive web design, and confirmed “this is Google’s recommended configuration,” – so if it’s endorsed by the world’s number one search engine, why would you not use it for your business?

New figures from Forrester Research have shown that the number of adults in the US who access the internet on a daily basis is quickly rising – and statistics suggest that this could be down to the rapid increase in the use of mobile devices. According to Forrester Research, in 2012 almost half of US adults owned a smartphone and around one fifth owned a tablet, making it much easier for them to get online at any time.

The trend for mobile devices is prevalent on this side of the pond as well – on Boxing Day alone, 30% of UK consumers accessed a website from a smartphone or tablet, and on Mega Monday at the end of November, tablet conversion rates even managed to outperform traditional desktop sales. It seems obvious that there is a direct correlation between the adoption of devices which allow you to browse on the move, and the increase in usage in both the UK and US alike – so what does this mean for your company?

Quite simply, it means that your website must be optimised for mobile search, to ensure that your visitors get the best possible experience on whatever device they choose to use for their internet browsing at that moment in time.

You can choose responsive web design, a specially built mobile website, or a standalone mobile app, but either way, these ever increasing mobile customers provide a great opportunity for your business – so make sure you provide a great mobile experience for them.

It’s that time of year again! New Year’s resolutions aren’t just for the home – they can be a great motivational tool in the office as well. The beginning of January is the perfect time to make a fresh start with your digital marketing campaign, so here are a few ideas to get you started.

Give your website a makeover

Your website is the online shop front for your business, so it’s important to keep it looking fresh, innovative and up to date. 2012 was the year that mobile search took off, so your first port of call should be to make sure your site is equally appealing on all platforms (check out our blog piece about responsive web design to find out more!) Even if you had your website redesigned recently, there are still ways that you can improve it – for instance, you could consider adding a blog or Twitter feed to keep the page active and interesting.

Revamp your social media

If your Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn profile has looked the same for months on end, why not make a change? Something as simple as a new cover photo or sparky new ‘About’ section could give you the edge over competitors who leave their pages static. Whilst you’re at it, why not try a new social media site? Relative newcomers such as Pinterest and Instagram could have a big impact on the visual aspect of your marketing strategy – just make sure you set aside enough time to update them frequently.

Make a schedule

Speaking of organising your time, there’s no better way to keep on top of your updates than with a clear cut content schedule. Plan when you’re going to post social media statuses, tweets, blog articles etc and find a way to make it happen alongside your daily workload. Social signals are becoming increasingly important for SEO as well as brand awareness, so investing a small amount of time in your planning could lead to big rewards as the year goes on.

The tree may have been taken down and you might be sick of turkey sandwiches, but the now forgotten Christmas period can still teach you some valuable lessons – particularly when it comes to online commerce. New figures from Experian Hitwise have shown that Boxing Day was the busiest ever day for online retail, with UK consumers spending 14m hours online and making 113m visits to e-commerce sites.

Unsurprisingly, e-retail giant Amazon topped the search charts, but other big name brands like Next, Debenhams and John Lewis were not far behind. One in every 125 searches made on 26th December included the word ‘sale’ or ‘sales’, proving that the British public are as keen as ever to pick up a bargain.

IBM released similarly impressive statistics for the day that highlighted the ever growing presence of mobile devices. The percentage of consumers using their tablet or smartphone to make a purchase rose to 24.73% – a significant increase on 2011’s 15.93%. The iPad was the leading device in the shopping stakes, accounting for 15.84% of all purchases, but the iPhone was not far behind with 8.63%, and phones running Android racked up a respectable 6.17% throughout the day.

These figures once again reinforce the importance of optimising your business’s website for mobile transactions. The Christmas shopping season may now be winding down, but 2013 is only just beginning, so make sure your website is ready for the New Year!

Responsive web design is big news in the online industry at the moment, thanks in no small part to Mashable’s Pete Cashmore, and his recent article, “Why 2013 is the Year of Responsive Web Design”. In the piece, Cashmore declares: “Given the rapid adoption of smartphones – and the fact that users currently seem to prefer reading their news on the mobile web rather than in apps – I think it’s inevitable that 2013 will be the year that responsive design takes off.” So what is responsive web design, and why does it matter for your business?

Responsive web design essentially means that a website has been crafted to provide an optimal viewing experience across a variety of different platforms, including desktop computers, laptops, smartphones and tablets. This type of web design allows users to scroll and navigate through the website with ease, regardless of the device they use to access it.

Experts at The Drum have even gone on to say that RWD could prove beneficial for SEO purposes, because “the effort you put in to search engine optimisation is pooled on one site, reducing costs and improving the performance of your campaigns.”
From a business perspective, responsive web design can streamline your whole development approach – you’ll only have to build one site, rather than various sites for different formats, which is a huge advancement on the web design strategies of yesteryear.

Here at NS Design, we offer a range of responsive web design services tailored to meet the needs of your business, and as we tweeted earlier this month, we agree with Mark Coyle from the BBC when he says that the future of mobile content is not apps, but responsive web design. If you’d like to find out more about how responsive web design could help your business, email info@nsdesign.net (or send us a tweet!)

You may remember our recent blog about Mega Monday, the biggest online shopping day of the year (and, this year, one of the biggest online shopping days in history!). We all knew it was going to be a busy time for e-commerce – but some astonishing statistics have emerged, which should make all “e-tailers” rethink their sales strategies.

A Cyber Monday report from Monetate shows that conversion rates were actually higher on tablet devices than on traditional desktop PCs, at 5.84% and 5.51% respectively. Apple’s iconic iPad, however, was shown to have the highest conversion rate of all, with over 6% of prospective online shoppers completing a purchase.

Comparing these figures against last year’s suggests that there has been a marked increase in consumers’ adoption of tablet devices: in 2011, the figures were almost exactly the opposite of this year’s, with tablet conversion rates of 5.48% and desktop conversion rates of 5.98%.

The smartphone is also gaining pace as an online shopping device: A recent survey from DPD has shown that 23% of the UK’s population have used their smartphones to buy products online on at least one occasion.

These findings should send a clear message to “e-tailers”: your company’s offerings need to be properly optimised for the mobile web, because there’s a significant pool of customers waiting to place orders with their iPads, other tablet devices, and smartphones. Your website needs to be just as presentable and functional on a smartphone or tablet as it is on a desktop computer, while taking account of the differences in the way consumers access content on these devices.

For more information, please visit our mobile websites page.

It’s been less than two months since Apple’s newest mobile offering, the iPhone 5, was released, but new statistics from ad network Chitika have shown that the devices are already contribute up to 3% of all mobile web traffic – beating its nearest competitor, the Samsung Galaxy S3, which accounts for 2% despite its earlier May release.

The research showed that it’s not the just the iPhone that is increasingly dominant – all of Apple’s iOS devices combined account for almost half (46%) of all mobile web traffic, whereas rival Samsung’s line accounts for just 17%, and a culmination of all other smartphone devices make up the remaining 37%.

These stats have a huge relevance for businesses, and not just in terms of the popularity of Apple products. The figures demonstrate the rapid growth of mobile search, and indicate the increasing importance of mobile optimisation for all websites.

An infographic from Microsoft Tag has even gone as far as to predict that, by 2014, mobile internet will actually overtake desktop internet usage – so in order to reach the majority of internet users, companies will need to ensure that their website looks just as good on a smartphone or tablet as it does on a desktop screen.