The stations I work with are revamping their websites to include content that research says we need to update constantly; local news, weather, sports, community events, photo's of events, and jock driven special features. We are pushing for a hybrid between a property website and a community web portal that offers our audience a reason to come back time after time and build impressions for our advertisers. Will we optomize for mobile? We would be fools not to as mobile devices with internet access are becoming the norm and people are choosing to check the small screens several times a day to keep up to date on their community. We are not alone in optomizing for mobile....
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Publishers Formatting Web Sites for Mobile Viewing |
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Publication Type |
Percent Formatted for Mobile |
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Consumer magazines |
42.2% |
|
Business publications |
44.7 |
|
Newspapers |
57.5 |
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Source: Audit Bureau of Circulations, September 2009 |
The Center For Media Research also noted that the growth rates of Mobile sites and use is only going up....
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Expected Web Site Traffic Growth From Mobile Devices |
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Expected % Growth |
% of Executives Anticipating Growth |
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Less than 5% growth |
18% |
|
5-25 |
51% |
|
25-50 |
13 |
|
50-75 |
2 |
|
More than 100 |
7 |
|
No growth |
2 |
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Source: Audit Bureau of Circulations, September 2009 |
"Edward Montes, executive vice president and managing director of Havas Digital North America, notes that "... with text and multimedia messaging, branded mobile apps, content sponsorships, display advertising, paid search, and location-based targeting, the platform becomes an integral component of the overall marketing strategy...
Survey Conclusions:
- It's early, but there are positive signs, says the report. The mobile market is definitely receiving more attention than ever before
- Mobile will drive Web traffic. Most respondents believe that mobile will be responsible for a five to 50% increase in Web site traffic in the next three years.
- Publishers are betting on both smartphones and e-readers and are actively exploring the vitality of both as a new distribution channel.
- Early business models will be based on a combination of advertising and subscriptions. Publishers agree that the mobile market will be both ad- and subscription-supported
- Respondents agree that independent third-party auditing would increase mobile's credibility and is likely to be demanded by advertisers as ad spending increases in this area "