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Author Archives: allanwoodstrom
Get your website tablet optimized
November 30, 2011 – 9:54 pm
This “Black Friday” tablets were everywhere. In many cases, they were selling for well less than a couple hundred of dollars.
My hunch is that in the coming months we’ll see a further explosion of tablet web visits.
That means you should have your website optimized for tablet visitors, but don’t be scared. It is actually quite simple. All you need to do is set up your website with separate stylesheets which are activated depending on the size of the visitors browser. Here’s a full article from css-tricks.com on how to pull that off technically.
As you begin working on tablet and mobile stylesheets I recommend copying and pasting from an existing stylesheet and revising it. More specifically:
- Eliminate any and all flash, as Apple doesn’t support it
- Keep as much content as you can in one or two columns
- Eliminate any large images. To do this simply add to the bottom of a img class on the stylesheet {display: none;}
- Make sure you are using html5 and css3 for color formatting and gradients. It’s a much faster load this way.
- Reshape your main navigation buttons. Consider adding some rounded edges on buttons and corners. It gives the site have a more modern feel.
- Don’t be afraid to cut stuff out.
- Test and retest and make a note that as you design, you should be able to play with the window size of computer’s web browser to see new stylesheets take.
If you have further questions, check out a forum for web developers and please share any other good tips you have.
Black Friday Mobile Thoughts
November 28, 2011 – 11:11 pm
I listened to a podcast this morning about the use of mobile by retailers during Black Friday. Apparently some retailers were trying to use mobile to lure away shoppers from other stores while they were out and about.
A lot of really smart marketers on the podcast looked at this in many different ways. The best point was raised by Joseph Jaffe that it is important to look at this from a human experience aspect. That said, here’s my anecdotal typical Thanksgiving and Black Friday experience:
- Go to Mom’s/Aunt’s/Grandma’s house for a Thanksgiving feast
- Watch football and drink a “soda” while absorbed in constant smell of turkey, potatoes and pie
- Flip through newspaper ads looking at how cheap television and tablet prices now are
- Try to convince yourself you are not one of the crazy people who is going to go shopping in the morning
- Look through the ads again and wonder how you could afford not be one of those crazy folk
- Eat lots of food and talk about whether or not we are going to go shopping at midnight or 6 a.m.
- When finally deciding to go, plot out the course and timeline for where you are going and what you want
- Set the alarm for an appropriate time, whether it be for 11 at night or four in the morning
- Wake up, find coffee, race to the mall, grab stuff
- Recap with the rest of the family members who stayed home what great deals you got
- Get them all excited and debate going out again once they decide they too want to go out
Looking at that experience, I find it hard to believe a lot marketers could sway consumers with mobile marketing on Black Friday. So much of the planning and debating about where to go shopping happens while family members pass around print ads while the food is cooking and during football commercial breaks.
It should be interesting to see though, if anyone was able to have success with mobile. If you know of any case studies, please share.
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