Radium

This isn’t a technical post on how to redirect users to a mobile version of your website. There are numerous articles that cover that topic in great detail. Rather, this post will cover the user experience implications of mobile redirects and what not to do if you want to keep visitors happy.

Mobile Redirect Options:

1. Redirect to mobile version of website and provide an opt-out to full version of site
2. No redirect and provide an opt-in to mobile version of site
3. Provide an interstitial page asking the visitor what version of the website they want to see

Cookie duration can provide additional customization options.

My Preference for Mobile Redirects

In most cases, I’m a fan of automatically redirecting visitors to the mobile version of the site and providing an opt-out to the full website. I think this provides the best experience (assuming your mobile site has the same functionality as your main website) as it doesn’t force the user to think. Obviously, there may be situations where this isn’t the correct method, but I think for most websites it works best.

The second option (not redirecting users to the mobile site and providing an opt-in) usually gets lost in the details. Often the design of the website causes the opt-in link to be small enough to go unnoticed. And if it does get noticed, the user is forced to reload the page.

The third option (interstitial page) is my least favorite option. It places too much pressure on the user; how should they know what version of your website to use, they haven’t even seen it yet!

Even though I believe one method is better than the rest, any of the three options can provide a good experience if implemented correctly. Unfortunately, since all websites are different, selecting the wrong method for your site can destroy the user experience.

Examples of what not to do

At Radium, we perform a ton of SEO audits. Some are simply a cursory overview of a website while others are much more detailed and in-depth. For the latter, we use a mix of marketing tools to analyze current metrics and provide feedback based on actual website data.

These tools provide a wealth of information but we also use another great tool. One that’s often overlooked in the SEO world…our eyes.

Usability, Design and Interaction
These 3 items are rarely talked about in search circles since they’re not necessary to have a properly optimized website (or at least they weren’t). However, investing in these elements can deliver tremendous value to the overall site and can actually help strengthen more traditional search metrics.

No matter what your internet marketing goals, there is a tool to help you achieve them. But selecting the right tool from so many choices can seem overwhelming. To help you find the right software for the job, we have compiled a list of some of the best tools available to help you manage, optimize and guide your internet marketing strategies!

The list contains tools for SEO management, paid search (PPC) optimization, usability testing, analytics, email marketing and social media management.

Calculating projected ROI (return on investment) for a website redesign is both a science and an art. The science piece relies on historical averages and known variables while the art piece is a best guesstimate of the redesigns impact on these metrics.

Most of the time, this sort of calculation is not done. Either because people believe it is too difficult to accurately calculate or they don’t want to be held accountable for their projections.

Why you should perform ROI calculations

Agency side: This sort of calculation can be extremely valuable during the new business stage. Quantifying the positive return of a website redesign will position your agency as much more than a creative shop.

Client side: Establishing estimates will give you a baseline for the new design and will let you know if the new site is performing better or worse than the existing site design. Not to mention it will get you thinking about additional tweaks and changes to the site post-redesign.

Calculating ROI
The easiest place to start is with actual data. Hopefully, you are accurately tracking website analytics and gathering this information is only a couple clicks away.

A new year is upon us. Hopefully your internet marketing strategy for 2011 is already in place and that the new year brings you incredible returns.

If you’re still looking for ideas and recommendations it’s not too late. Here are 25 resolutions worth pursuing.

25 internet marketing resolutions for 2011

It still surprises me when I see bad web design being sold to clients. It’s almost 2011, there is no reason to put up with bad creative. To prove that, let’s debunk the most common excuses for poor website design.

Cost – “We don’t have money for a quality design.”
Sorry this isn’t a valid excuse. It’s true, some websites can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars…but most don’t. Most small and medium sized websites can be had for $5,000 – $15,000. Some cost much less but I think the majority would probably fall within that range.

If a few thousand is too much to spend there are thousands of website templates that can be bought and customized for less than a hundred dollars. Sure a template isn’t as good as an original design, but when budgets are extremely tight (or nonexistent) a little bit of customization can go along way.

Nature of the business – “We are in a boring industry, people expect our site to look like this.”
This is easily the most ridiculous excuse. If all of your competitors have crappy websites wouldn’t you want to stand out from them with a great site?

In cases like this the bar is so incredibly low, all you have to do is not suck. Craft a user experience and design that customers don’t expect. Make it easy for them to navigate your site and find what they need. Give them an experience they will remember.

CMS limitations – “Our system can’t do that.”
There is absolutely no reason to be stuck with a content management system that doesn’t deliver what you need. The options are almost endless and prices start at absolutely free. Technology should not be a limitation to good website design.

Are you the cause of bad web design?
Maybe you haven’t been tripped up by the excuses above but somehow you still ended up with a poorly designed website. Could over involvement be the cause?

Even though the music industry gets all of the press about piracy, stealing software is still alive and well. Actually, with the proliferation of torrent sites, it’s probably easier than ever to pirate software. But this isn’t a post about software piracy. Nope, this is a post about reaching potential customers is places you might not expect.

Rosetta Stone is a leader in proprietary language-learning software. If you’re not familiar with the product, their language software is priced per level per language, i.e., level 1 Spanish. With each language consisting of three levels and each level costing around $200, the software is not cheap. And, needless to say, software with a high price tag will be subject to piracy.

So the question becomes:
Can a person actively searching for an illegal copy of software be convinced to pay for it?

Most companies would probably say no and simply pretend these people don’t exist and hope they go away. But Rosetta Stone doesn’t appear to be ignoring this group and actually is going out of their way to target them.

Originally this post was supposed to be a non-rant about companies utilizing Google AdWords and mobile landing pages. However, a little bit into my research it became clear that most of the ads I clicked on directed me to the main company website. For mobile users, with a tiny 3.5-inch display, regular websites don’t always render images and text in a useful manner making these landing page useless.

If you’re familiar with Google AdWords, then you probably know that within the campaign settings you have the ability to target consumers with smartphones (i.e., full HTML mobile browsers). Google calls this “device platform targeting.” Even better, AdWords allows you to directly launch the iTunes Apps Store, Google Maps or YouTube applications from the sponsored ad.

This seems like a no brainer for companies selling apps and music downloads. Create a campaign – target only mobile users and direct them to your offering in the app store or on iTunes. Keep in mind that you can’t target specific types of smartphones (i.e., only iPhones or only Blackberrys) but with smart keyword and negative keyword choices, you can get pretty darn close.

Tom Tom AdWords ad and corresponding mobile site

Tom Tom provides a soft landing for mobile users and quick access to buy the app in the iTunes App Store.

When not searching from a smart phone, the same ad directs you to the regular website.

Often marketers fail to consider the ramifications that new marketing campaigns and incentives will have on existing customers. Sure, slashing the price of your offering will move a ton of units but what about those customers that paid the original price. What effect does the price drop have on them?

Digital marketing in a recession:
Hint – Don’t cut your budget and give away free stuff!

Forget about just weathering the storm and hiding under the covers. Now is the time to increase conversions, streamline your digital marketing and grab market share cheap! I know most companies will have the kneejerk reaction to cut their marketing and advertising budget. That’s fine if you want to lose market share and profits. But, if you’d like to keep your current customers and maybe gain new ones, don’t cut your budget – cut your costs and refocus your attention. Here are 8 steps to help you market electronically in a down economy.