Archive for November 2013

Pros & Cons: Responsive Web Design (RWD Part 2 of 2)

Sunday 17 November 2013 § 0

Last week I talked about what RWD is and why m-dot sites suck. Here’s a pros and cons list to show why RWD is becoming the new best practice, and what challenges firms will face along the way.

PROS

One code to rule them all
Having one code means having one site, which means you avoid having to maintain, test, and re-write separate desktop and m-dot sites. This also means that you’ll have one team working on your one site, instead of possibly having two teams.

SEO won’t be spread thin
Your desktop and m-dot site won’t be competing against each other for the top ranking.

Consistent UX
As mentioned in the last RWD post, different screens and devices should be considered facets of the same experience, not an experience composed of disjointed ones.  



Google says you should do it
Google prefers you only have one URL. You should probably listen to Google.

Optimizes presentation of content and navigation
The way your website looks to the user is consistent across all platforms, and is completely in your control. Companies won’t have to worry about whether or not their navigation menus or images will be rendered properly when viewed on a small screen or when the browser is resized.




Not as risky for small companies or websites with few pages
The fewer the pages, the less rewriting, testing, and maintaining developers will have to do.

Advertising can be streamlined
Ads were normally sold based on the desktop or m-dot sites, with m-dot ad space as an “add on.” Now, ads can be packaged as a “single booking” with a mobile/tablet opt-out. But given the fact that so many people are using their mobile devices to browse the web, advertisers would be hard-pressed to find a reason why they would want to opt out of reaching so many people.


CONS

It’s complex
A lot of people don’t fully understand what RWD is, they see it as a big scary new technology, when it’s really just a new way of designing websites. Because of this, there has been relatively low adoption from anyone outside of tech blogs, web design firms, and early adopters like The Boston Globe. Despite these skewed perceptions, there is still a lot of work involved in rewriting the front-end code:

  • Breakpoints, the screen size at which a piece of code will be triggered to resize or reconfigure the components of the page, need to be determined for different screen sizes.
  • Graceful degradation needs to be considered. Your site might collapse to a single-column mobile site from a three-column desktop site. You’ll need to consider the ease of navigation and the user experience.

It’s costly and time-consuming
As mentioned, there’s a lot of rewriting to do, and it may require specialised web developers and a large initial investment.

RWD isn’t supported by older browsers
Although, this shouldn’t be a huge problem given that the majority of users are using up-to-date browsers.

Load times may be slow on mobile
When a website uploads a picture onto their page, they’re uploading an image that is the best resolution for a desktop computer. So when a user is loading the page on their phone, they’re downloading the full image, it’s just being resized to fit your 4.7-inch screen. 




Risky for large companies or websites with a lot of pages
Given the amount of rewriting, testing, and maintaining involved, the RWD facelift is a huge investment both in time, cost, and expertise. 

Existing web servers are not compatible for RWD
Desktop servers simply require the user to fetch the information. This requires a lot of work from the browser, but it’s not a huge deal since most people have relatively fast Internet speeds and don’t have to worry about data usage. Mobile ad servers, on the other hand, have to worry about speed and data usage but also have to work with slower Internet speeds. RWD websites will need both a desktop and mobile ad server to host ads since there are no existing web servers that are optimised for both.

Advertising can also get complex
Marketers may not be able to tailor their ads to different user environments or contexts. In a previous blog, I discuss playing a “catch me if you can” game with consumers, where consumers engage in multi-device web browsing. Ads that target those on their phones on the bus will be different from those on their tablets at home or sitting in the office in front of their desktop computer. If a website is selling ad spots on their RWD website, how will the website determine which spots will be designated to mobile-targeted ads? It could be based on pre-set parameters such as breakpoints, but…

Ad tags make things even more complicated

An ad tag is a tag that helps Google determine whether or not an ad is appropriate for any given online ad space. As mentioned, marketers want to target consumers based on context and device. As a result, ad tags tend to differ between mobile and desktop sites. This means that developers will have to decide which ad tags will be appropriate for which break points.

In some cases, RWD may not be attainable, especially given the substantial initial investment (both in terms of time and money) involved. However, RWD seems to be the new "best practice" for web design. What are your thoughts? 

Sources:

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In Ten-ant more days, Whovians are going to take over social media.

Wednesday 13 November 2013 § 0

The Doctor Who 50th anniversary is coming up. The event needs little promotion, given the massive fanbase who have been eagerly awaiting The Day of the Doctor. The fans have been instructed by the Doctor himself to use the hashtag #SavetheDay for any Who-related content.



The BBC has compiled all the Whovian Generated Content on their website. The more UGC – or WGC – that is created, the more golden “nodes” of the TARDIS appear, and the more nodes that appear reveals more exclusive 50th content, such as clips of the special and behind the scenes photos.

The #SavetheDay campaign highlights the benefits of user-generated content:

  • It provides an outlet to share and read consumer opinions. Whovians around the world can speculate how The Doctor could possibly cross his own timeline to save the world from the Zygons on social media, forums like Reddit, even on Youtube comments.
  • The content is authentic. When seeking information, users trust peers more than they trust companies. Moffat lied to us about Paul McGann. Rule #1: Moffat lies.
  • Virality of positive WOM. The response to any and all new content that is released to the public is immediate sharing, especially on the social media Big Three (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram)
  • Brand advocates provide free advertising and increased brand awareness. Whovians are the best at putting the spotlight The Doctor.
  • Fresh content and back-linking can help SEO. Whovians can spend hours perusing the BBC Doctor Who website. In response to this, the BBC is constantly posting new Who content. 
  • Reveals insights and allows better engagement with community. The BBC caught onto how Whovians react to Who-related content (through fangirling and spamming the Big Three). The BBC has essentially created a vicious cycle of fangirling. They’ve developed a website that is powered by these natural reactions to uncover new content that will in turn, cause more fangirling. Amazing. 
There are, however, a few disadvantages of UGC:

  • Poor moderation of content on website can drive traffic away. I’m assuming this isn’t the case since I haven’t seen any non-Who related content on the site yet. But perhaps a couple instagram shots of wedding invites could be hidden in those nodes somewhere. I highly doubt that a couple unrelated images would deter a die-hard Whovian from leaving the site. 
  • No control. While the BBC rarely has any issues with Whovians posting content to their detriment, sometimes you really just don’t want to see weird Who fanfiction. 
  • Virality of negative WOM. Just as Whovians can quickly spread the word about positive news, they can do the same with negative news. When Colin Baker, the Sixth Doctor, criticized Moffat for not contacting any of the pre-reboot Doctors to appear in the 50th, claiming to be regarded as “surplus baggage,” the news was everywhere from social media to Canadian Sci Fi talkshow InnerSPACE.

And if you weren’t convinced of how confident I feel in the Whovian social media domination on the 23rd, we’ll also be competing against Miley Cyrus’s birthday and “One Direction Day.” ALLONS-Y!
 
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Post-Concert Depression is an Extreme Form of Brand Loyalty

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October is prime time for gigs and shows. It’s why it’s been aptly referred to as Rocktober (by me [and at least other person, come on!]). If you’ve ever been to a really memorable show, you’ve probably experienced Post-Concert Depression, or PCD. PCD involves going home elated and then waking up the next day sulking and listening to the band’s album on repeat for a week (or six). I equate PCD to an extreme form of brand loyalty (and also withdrawal).

Despite the masses of brooding fans, bands get a lot out of PCD:

  • Bands often see a growth in social media followers consisting of fans who just discovered them. This is especially true for new or smaller bands that open for headliners.
  •  A live event re/ignites a fan’s loyalty to the band. PCD may result in sharing (or spamming) one’s facebook/twitter page with videos, tracks, or recommending (or forcing) your friends to listen to the band’s music.
  • Bands get a peak in their social media engagement after every show. From people saying “Thanks for coming to Vancouver! You guys killed it tonight!” to Instagram photos of their performance, every show puts them in the social media spotlight.
  • Posting customized content about each city before and/or after a show is extremely powerful. We all know the importance of customizing content to different social mediums and audiences, but bands have been customizing their between-song banter to different cities for years! “Hellllooooooooo WISCONSIN!” But now, with social media, bands can further customize messages so that the PCD really hits home: “That was fun Vancouver"

But the process of becoming a brand advocate and being a fan of a band isn’t exactly the same. Finding a band and listening to them is a more organic process. You fall into a soundcloud discovery hole and then two years later the band finally makes it big enough to go on tour and play your city. So how can brands generate something close to PCD?
A recent study done by Momentum Worldwide looked at the positive WOM generated from the most common types of brand interactions, from simply visiting their Facebook page to going to a branded event. What they found was that attending a live, branded event was the most effective means of driving (65% of) people to recommend brands and driving (59% of) them to buy the brand at a retail store. A branded live event even trumped a friend’s and a trusted influencer’s recommendation – the traditional drivers of WOM.


A branded live event can be anything from a concert, to a sports game, to a food festival. The more interactive and memorable the brand experience, the more buzz the brand creates for itself. 93% of people who attended branded events were likely to talk about the event.





 Furthermore, a live music event resulted in more positive affect about the brand. What this means is that brands can leverage the PCD or its sports- or (food- [I was like a Bieber fan at Eat! Vancouver watching Chuck Hughes do a demo on cooking with kale. So yes, it’s possible.]) equivalent by sponsoring live events. 




Not only will their brand be attached to a memorable event, but they gain a host of other benefits (using a concert example):

  • Musical tastes can be so subjective that they in themselves are psychographic measure. This can allow brands to tune into certain demographics and target these fans by attaching their brand image to the music they love most.
    Source: Forrester Research
    • Everybody likes music, and hosting free events can grow a brand’s target audience. I don’t drive, but a free You Say Party show hosted by Scion? Sure, why not.
    • Your brand can become embedded in the band’s existing culture, or at least gain some residual cool. Assuming you’ve done your research and the band’s brand image aligns with yours (or your ideal), by being attached to the band, you’ll inevitably earn some cool points. In essence, you get to say, “I’m with the band.”
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    Responsive Websites Aren’t Exactly New, so Why the Face? (Part 1 of 2)

    Saturday 9 November 2013 § 0

    Before responsive web design (RWD) became a new best practice, there were two basic types of website designs:

    • Static design gives components of your website fixed dimensions.
    • Fluid design gives components of your website percentage dimensions. This means that your browser adjusts to changes in your window size.
    Responsive designs are similar to fluid in that they are adaptive to screen size, but are even more adaptive. The code involves CSS media queries, which basically say “if the screen size is less than this, then set the dimensions to this.”

    Source: Web Designer Wall
    There has been a lot of buzz about responsive design as of late, and the reason it’s been brought to the forefront is because of the increasing multi-device habits of consumers. Advertisers and content publishers alike have been playing a game of catch me if you can with their audience across their smartphones, smart TVs, tablets, and desktop computers.

    One challenge that many content publishers faced was the incompatability issues of their desktop website on mobile devices. The response to that was to create mobile websites (eg. m.bbcworldnews.com). There were many problems with this, however:

    • Double the Work: m-dot websites mean you have to maintain two separate sites. Every page on your website has to have an equivalent on the m-dot site.
    • SEO Disruption: m-dot websites spread out your SEO efforts. In order to rank your site, Google crawls the web to look for inbound links and relevant content to give you a quality score. If you’re on two separate sites, these two sites are competing against each other for your ranking.
    • Sharing is Hard: when m-dot sites are shared and opened on a desktop browser, the content is shrunken down since the site has been designed for a 4.7-inch screen.
    • Screen Sizes Differ: Not every mobile device screen is the same size. Screen sizes differ within mobile devices (eg. iPhone vs. Samsung Galaxy) and between them (eg. iPhone vs. iPad)
    M-Dot site on a desktop browser
    The solution to the m-dot problem is responsive web design (RWD). RWD means you have one website that users can access from any device. As Ethan Marcotte, the web designer credited for paving the RWD road, put it: 
    Rather than tailoring disconnected designs to each of an ever-increasing number of web devices, we can treat [the devices] as facets of the same experience.”  
    Source: Web Designer Wall

    Stay tuned for Part 2, where I discuss the pros and cons of RWD and what it means for marketers and content creators.
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