Anyone following me for a while will know one of my common themes is ensuring your website is ready for the mobile invasion. Just because the majority of your current visitors are still using traditional platforms doesn’t mean that will remain the status quo for very long.
Given that background, I thought it might be good to start exploring some of the practical steps involved to prepare for this revolution.
Today’s topic: reliance on external file formats such as PDF and .doc to incorporate content into your website.
For some time, desktop and notebook browsers have incorporate tools that have enabled these external documents to be presented inside the browser. There may have been some accessibility issues with this approach but for the majority of visitors this integration has been seamless.
Unfortunately, only the very latest of the current crop of mobile browsers support that sort of integration. Those that do probably open a new tab, a method that has it own usability issues on the little screen. For many visitors using a mobile device their only option is to download the file and then display it using a separate app - assuming of course that they have a suitable app available.
“No biggie” may be your first response, but let’s try looking at it in context. Put yourself in the situation of travelling home on public transport and you decide it’s Chinese takeaway for dinner tonight. You’re new to the area so you need to find a restaurant and make a choice. You pull out your trusty Android or iPhone and start searching. You recognise a name of a restaurant recommended to you and visit the website. Oh no! They insist on Flash (as shown in the image). Scrub that one. Let’s try the next one.
This one is not been optimised for mobile but it does load and you can manage to navigate the site. Unfortunately you discover the menu is only available in PDF format. You have no choice but to download the file … waiting, waiting, waiting … finally it’s on your phone. Now you have to leave the browser, find the PDF viewer, navigate to the directory where the downloaded file is stored and open it. You make the final choice and go looking for the phone number. It’s in the PDF file but it’s not clickable.
You can either commit the phone number to your memory (even 8 digits can be a struggle for some of us) or go back to the browser and hope the phone number is clickable.
Phone call made, order given, taste buds tingling … you look up and recognise that you’ve passed your stop. If only the process was a little smoother you might have been on time for dinner. Will you have fond memories of your dealings with this restaurant? The food needs to be spectacular and the service exemplary to offset the struggle so far.
So what could the restaurant do to improve this situation? One simple option is to show the menu in the page (built using HTML) and provide a PDF version for those who would like it.
The recommendation from this first instalment is to re-think the way your visitors might need to interact with your website. Even if you are not yet ready to build a mobile friendly version of your website, you can incorporate some friendlier methods into the current structure, such as not relying on external files to convey critical content.
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Filed under mobile Android iPhone Web browser Mobile browser Telephone number
Timing is everything!
I scheduled my earlier post on this subject, “What do you do about negative comments?” [link below], for 10am Tuesday, 22 May (Sydney time), while I was on a bus to the city. During the ride, I was catching up on my blog reading and I read another post by Andy Sernovitz - “How to turn a bad review into a better review”.
Andy makes some very helpful comments about surviving the unfortunate circumstance of negative comments. He even provides an example of a successful handling of a negative comment. This discussion expanded my thinking. Thus this update.
The risk of negative comments is something we all face and that risk is increasing. For a number of us it will be an alarming reality. Isn’t prevention better than cure; and preparation better than reaction? To me, it makes sense to think about the risks and prepare for the possibility.
How will you handle it when it’s your turn?
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Filed under online reputation reputation management Andy Sernovitz
Whether we like it or not, whether we’re aware of it or not, whether we seek them out or not, people are using the facilities of the internet to publish comments about products and services. Sooner or later someone will comment about your organisation. Perhaps that comment will be negative. If so it is a potential problem.
Why is this a problem? We know that more and more customers are researching their buying decisions using search engines and those engines are very good at finding references to our brand and our products and services. In fact, we rely on that to establish connections with potential clients. But now those clients can be exposed to negative comments because of all the references the search engines have found. Just as important, search engines are attempting to make value judgements about references to us in when ranking our websites. Social signals are an emerging ranking factor.
In a post “The 3 kinds of negative comments and reviews” by Andy Sernovitz (link below), Andy describes 3 forms comments can take and offers some suggestions for resolution for each. His comments are valid, but his suggestions rely on the correct assessment of the comment type, which is not always easy. As he points out in the first type, Malicious People, these can be difficult to deal with. His comment about “quietly moderating/deleting these comments” only applies if the comments are on a platform you control, but it is not without risk.
One strategy he doesn’t mention is to check the dispute resolution facilities that exist on the platform on which the comments are hosted. If you can show the comments are malicious and unfounded you may get some relief.
In these cases it is tempting to drown out the negative comments with positive ones. If you are naturally attracting favourable comments this will occur anyway and the overwhelming positive comments will drown out the occasional negative one. This is natural and will be respected by potential customers and by search engines.
Despite our recommendations to the contrary, one of our customers in response to a single negative comment “manufactured” favourable comments (staff of the company have written and posted the reviews) in trying to remove the negative comment from top position. At the simplest level, this has been successful. However, they have made no approach to the platform, which has a published dispute resolution procedure, nor are they actively attempting to resolve the fundamental issue with the negative commenter, and they have not chosen to publish their perspective on the negative comments. Even more importantly for the longer term, they have no strategy in place to attract comments. Their industry faces the same problems I outlined in “Some industries only stand out when they #fail” (link below).
Will this present a problem for my customer? I fear the risk is high. If anyone believes the favourable comments are manufactured their online reputation will be further tarnished. If it is a search engine that makes this determination, they may discount the favourable comments leaving the negative comment as the only social signal
Recommentation: Find a way to encourage and capture real comments.
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Filed under Marketing Andy Sernovitz reputation management online reputation
As usual Mitch Joel, raises an interesting issues in his posts. This one recently caught my eye - The E-Commerce Tipping Point.
The tipping point he’s referring to is the adoption of mobile not the move into E-Commerce itself. Online stores are already making a dent on the trading volumes of Bricks and Mortar retailers. But many of these online retailers, either exclusively online or a mix of online and bricks and mortar, are sitting back waiting to decide if / when they should adopt a mobile strategy.
Joel says the tipping point is here now. Retailers who wait for conclusive proof of it miss the opportunity to stay ahead or at least compete favourably in this space. I’ve argued previously that early adopters in a niche stand to take a significant advantage over the rest of the niche. That logic applies here, but in this case the niche has the potential to become mainstream.
Joel closes his post with “The future belongs to selling everywhere, anytime*. Why some retailers are sitting back and waiting is beyond me.”
* Sounds like E-Commerce to me.
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Filed under Mitch Joel ecommerce
While reading an Andy Sernovitz post (Why do so many dry cleaners get bad reviews), it occurred to me that there are many industries in a similar situation. The only (or the overwhelming majority of) comments they get are negative. How often do you hear good things about lift mechanics, pest controllers, office cleaners or car mechanics? Is it a challenge to get Word of Mouth referrals in your industry?
As Andy suggests, sometimes the solution is as simple as asking for a review, but make sure you deserve a good one. Andy’s other suggestion is just as valid but more difficult to achieve - do something review-worthy.
Andy often writes on the theme of word of mouth referrals and is fact running a conference on that theme next month in the US (I won’t be attending). One of the presenters is Saul Colt. In one of the promotions for the conference Saul tells a story about he received “remarkable” service from one of the invisibles - a bellhop. I’ll do my best to retell the story ….
Saul pulled up in a taxi and the bellhop collected the bags. Presumably by checking the tags on the bags, he was able to refer to Saul by name. This wasn’t so unusual. The next day Saul encountered the bellhop. The bellhop was still able to refer to Saul by name without benefit of luggage tags. Saul was so impressed he wrote to the manager of the hotel to comment on the quality of the service he received from the bellhop.
So what’s my point? “Marketing” comes in all shapes and sizes and has lots of variations in cost structures. The option with the highest price tag is not always the most successful. It does take thought and effort.
These ideas only reinforce the concept that every employee has a marketing responsibility.
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Filed under Saul Colt Andy Sernovitz Word of Mouth
“All successful businesses have a phone line, a website and a Facebook page. Facebook does not take time away from you. Facebook can give your business a personality.” misschu as posted on Let’s Talk Business.
I can go along with the phone line and website part. The Facebook page is little less believable, but I suppose it could depend on your definition of “successful”. And I’m definitely OK with the personality statement. The one I have an issue is “Facebook does not take time away from you.” How do you keep it updated if it doesn’t take your time?
Paul Wallbank had a post recently (The free myth) in which he commented on this statement heard at a social media event … “I can’t believe all businesses aren’t on Facebook - it’s free.” That statement is clearly wrong as Paul pointed out. Facebook costs in several ways - time and the data mining that Facebook performs.
Don’t get me wrong, I think Facebook has an important role to play for many businesses. We shouldn’t gloss over the true cost of participation. How else can we really assess the value?
Filed under Facebook Paul Wallbank
“We are leaving the Information Age and entering the Recommendation Age” Frog Design as quoted in “The Long Tail” by Chris Anderson
I’m not sure about the “leaving” and “entering” in that quote but I am convinced the Recommendation Age is upon us.
Everywhere you look there are recommendations. Some of them have different names e.g. “Likes”, “Friends”, “Followers”, “Pins”, but they all mean the same thing. They are an implied endorsement by someone for something or someone. These recommendations are not just about the warm and fuzzy feeling of being liked or followed. So many of these endorsements are being used to influence decisions.
Think about it. If one of your Facebook friends likes a company’s Facebook page, might that influence a “buy” decision if you have a need for that company’s products?
Filed under Facebook Long Tail Chris Anderson Frog Design
Robert Tercek and the “Information Tsunami”
Rob Tercek is not a name I knew until I started watching a video podcast that he hosts - “This Week In Social Media”. This video was shown in the 7th episode of that podcast. While the content is now a little old in Internet time, the material is still relevant and interesting.
If you are feeling overwhelmed by the volume of information and options that confront you, then this video may help create some context for you.
“People generate new information all day long, not just by writing and posting videos, but also through our consumption, our reactions, our trackable behaviour and our habits. We even generate new information when we are asleep, in the form of brainwaves!” Robert Tercek
Filed under Robert Tercek Information Tsunami This Week In Social Media
Follow your own path to success (midboh.com.au)
The upside of being ordinary and obvious (rohitbhargava.com)
At face value these two posts may seem contradictory but I don’t think they are. They seem in harmony to me.
They are both about evaluating choices and making decisions. It is perfectly valid to seek new ways to achieve, just as it is to stay true to the current path. As long as you make a choice not just allow things to happen without direction. It is about choice based on your circumstances and the best advice and information you can get.
And never lose sight of your goals.
Filed under fork in the road choice
This headline at Marketing Pilgrim caught my eye - “Is Facebook Getting Serious About Search?” I rarely think of Facebook as a search facility but it may be soon time to reconsider.
Facebook’s search is OK to find someone in Facebook but it’s not where I research products and services. Although I’m not tied to Facebook, there are many Facebook users who all but live there. It’s likely that some of these will use Facebook’s search facility regularly. That number will only go up if Facebook successfully improves its search capabilities.
In case you weren’t already aware, Facebook has an arrangement with Bing. Facebook adds Bing results to the bottom their search results. This means that businesses with a Facebook page and a website indexed by Bing have two bites of the cherry to be found by anyone using Facebook search.
Isn’t it time you added Facebook to your marketing plans?
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Filed under Facebook Bing Marketing Pilgrim
