A recent article in Read Write Web revealed 87% Of Connected Consumers Prefer Websites & Mobile Sites Over Apps, which is fantastic news for digital strategists trying to manage budgets.

Rather than spending additional budget on applications we have the opportunity to really maximize the mobile browser experience. In fact, preference for mobile (smartphone or tablet) websites reveals the opportunity to design websites from mobile views out.

Designing and budgeting mobile-out also alleviates a few other traditional budget snags, such as:

Development, development, and more development
Designing from the mobile view out to bigger devices means considering development first. Rather than budgeting separetely for the website, the mobile browser, the application, the tablet… development can now be consolidated to one very flexible language. I recently worked on a new launch that did just that.

The website was built using HTML5 and WordPress. It’s flexibility is device agnostic –meaning budget was spared from needless spends accommodating infinite device sizes.

Over-done design
We designed the website to be viewed in the mobile browser, forcing a clean simplicity we may have otherwise not had. There’s little room for design-by-committee when real estate is constrained.

…Though I really shouldn’t use “constrained”; the smaller real estate challenges designers to think creatively to create a clean, usable interface.

Broken user experiences across platforms
One of the biggest complaints on mobile application reviews is inconsistency from the website. Users log onto apps expecting the same functionality the business website. When expectations are managed or met, an app’s review credibility can quickly suffer, rapidly deflating the return on investment.

From the above HTML5 and WordPress example: Rather than building for each device touchpoint, the digital platform we built was flexible enough to be consumed across user experience opportunities.

Poorly prioritized content
When you begin designing for mobile the simple real estate restriction forces you to prioritize what is most important to the user. Not only that, this means you have to make usability a top priority. And that’s fantastic.

It’s more important to strip out the extra details on the mobile browsing view and introduce “extras” when the user will benefit most.

Have you built mobile-out? How was your experience?

Or have you created budgets for this type of project? What did you like or not like about the approach?

Checklists are nice. They’re tidy lists with nice to cross things off of. Then they’re finished!

Websites are a little messy.
The boxes checked sometimes fade as the Internet continues to propel forward at increasing speeds. Or a giant cup of coffee spills on top of them, as Google changes its algorithm.

A website is an ecosystem, reacting to consistently changes environments all around. Changes in search engine criteria, competitor websites, and user habits are just a few external influencers in one website’s ecosystem. To stay alive, the website needs to consistently move with these changes.

The website ecosystem is based on the website itself, but includes extensions through pay-per-click advertising, social media, public relations, and other customer touch points–similar to a brick-and-mortar.

Websites require change and updates.
While design should stay rather consistent and aligned with the brand, the attributes of a website requires consistent updating. Content is constantly added, shared, and contributed to the website ecosystem. User traffic is pushed and directed in many different directions.

To simplify this for a client, I sketched the following image out (made generic for purposes of this post).

Website ecosystem inputs/outputs (click to enlarge)

Side note: Out of the Box Solutions
These are just the basics. Next time you hear a marketer talking about an “out of the box solution”, remember the ecosystem. “Out of the box” is like a tumor on your ecosystem; it requires blood supply, gives some back, usually doesn’t fit in well, and can often turn deadly.

7 Tips for Managing an Ecosystem

1. Start with content. As my friend and co-worker Hubert Sawyers will tell you, content strategy is a great place to start before pursuing all things digital. Know what you want to share, how you want to share it, and what purpose your content serves before making decisions on tools and design. Content is pervasive to your ecosystem. Don’t skip this step. Here’s a great book on getting started: Content Strategy by Kristina Halvorson
2. Know your user. Each part of your ecosystem serves the user in a unique way. Sometimes you’re meeting them where they already are (such as social or search engines); sometimes they are already directly engaging (direct website traffic). Just as you’d approach an individual differently on the street versus in your office, you’ll need to know where you stand with the user before engaging.
3. Consider usability–how the user will use and experience your content–when plotting out layout (user interface), design, and content delivery. In an ecosystem there are many different types of users depending on the engagement location. If your users are on-the-go, consider bit sized, mobile-friendly content delivery–just enough to keep them moving. If they’re taking the time to research a purchase decision, thoughtfully organize more comprehensive information and detail.
4. Don’t be lazy with content. Shifting through content, whether via a website or social media, shouldn’t feel like sifting. By taking the extra time to repurpose offline or website content for better usability on the different extensions of the ecosystem, you’ll decrease overall bounce rates, improve time on site, and overall conversion rates.
5. Use caution with automating updates. Most automation tools push content out the same way in the same format, regardless of which web property it’s posting to. This can be spammy and ineffective.
6. Tailor value messaging to the engagement point. A user’s attention span on Facebook is different than on your website–likely shorter. Use this information wisely. For example: Rather than taking time to prepare a user for information, begin with the value proposition (benefit) of continuing the engagement (clicking a link, watching a video, viewing photos, etc). Know why your user will enjoy the content–then tell them. Remember this point when automating social media posts or website updates! 
7. Always come back to your general purpose. Too many marketing agencies and web companies operate in silos, with unique goals and agendas. In the office, we use a strategy document to keep everyone one the same team. Each tactic should have one purpose: to convert (purchase, hire, etc). While there are many smaller ways to measure elements of that process (fans, traffic, click-throughs, etc), the specific conversion goal should be top of mind for every extension of the ecosystem.

Once you’ve set up a solid digital base, it’s natural to want to fine tune things. While Google Analytics and Adwords are both continuously improving their offerings, I thought I’d share a few options.

This list isn’t an endorsement, nor does it imply your current analytics solution isn’t cutting it. It’s a look into my notebook. Literally. See the photo?

Analytics

1. Comscore: Digital marketing intelligence
2. Pardot: Real-time alerts on visitors, mobile insights
3. Clicktale: Heat maps, real-time, conversion funnels
4. Kampyle: User feedback
5. Statcounter: Real-time tracking
6. SiteMeter: Free web counter
7. Kiss Metrics: Conversion funnel metrics
8. Crowd Science: Combines analytics with survey research
9. Chart beat: Real-time analytics

Why they matter…

• Conversion Funnels: I really like the idea of more comprehensive conversion funnel mapping. A few of these providers actually create visual maps for these–which the nerd in me loves. This is something I really wish Google Analytics did better.


How a Conversion Funnel works

• Real-time Analytics: Real-time is neat, but I don’t know of many companies who are willing to commit a resource to using that regularly. That said, this tool would be great for understanding comprehensive time patterns or for tracking traffic bursts specific to a campaign.
• Combining analytics with survey research: I really like the idea of what Crowd Science is doing. They’re batching the quantitative metrics with the qualitative, essentially reinforcing the value of each in doing so. (Say your traffic is fantastic one day, but it’s because someone posting an incredibly embarrassing photo of you…You’d know!)
• Heat maps: These maps provide a graphic view of how people are using your website, using colors to indicate frequency. Heat maps are probably best used by user experience planners rather than dataphiles.


How a Website Heat Map looks

Advertising

1. DoubleClick by Google: Buy, create, and sell digital media
2. Revenue Science: Behavioral targeting
3. Right Media by Yahoo: Digital ad placement
4. Turn: Ad placement for custom audiences

Why these matter…

• Behavioral targeting: This is an incredibly powerful tool and can have an awesome impact on conversion rates when used correctly. It is critical to profile your target market prior to using these tools.
• Custom audiences: This phrase alone reinforces the idea that your consumer is multidimensional and should be treated as such–but it’ll probably cost you. As it stands, Google Adwords doesn’t support much beyond the basics (location, language, networks and devices, and age.)

Additional thoughts…

• Text vs. Banner (image) ads: From what I’ve read, text ads do better on generally targeted campaigns–which is probably why you can get away with them using Google Adwords; however, image-based ads convert much better than their counterparts when placement is based on qualified traffic and the banner is specifically targeted.
• Outsourcing ads: There is a lot of heavy lifting associated with bigger ad campaigns, so I’ve heard a lot of companies say they’ve turned to third party providers to manage campaigns for them. When properly managed internally (markets defined, campaigns cohesive, etc), this can free up a lot of otherwise generally mindless work uploading text, etc.

What analytics or advertising solutions are you using? Wish lists? Work arounds?

A client blog I managed was written to draw traffic and increase prospect inquiries. The blog launched about a year ago and exceeded expectations. At launch, the client had set the blog up in a WordPress content management system with a free blog theme. It was a standard blogging theme with minimal customization.

As the blog content started to mature, I realized a need to display the content in a way that would allow for featured content to be highlighted. In addition it was clear the content took on a conversational, but resourceful, feel. I started looking for a theme that would reflect these new needs and found a magazine theme. As a bonus, the new theme also offers a 468x 60 ad space at the top, if the client should choose to use it in the future.

Results:

• Traffic improved by over 200%
• Time on page improved by a over two minutes
• Bounce rate decreased by over 30%
• Pages per visit improved by about 1.5 pages
• Substantial traffic sustained post-initial marketing investments

Improving website traffic is great, but if there’s no conversion mechanism it can be a lost investment.

My take aways was this: Despite your greatest intentions, ultimately it’s the user who will dictate how they want to consume content. If you pay close enough attention to what’s given (analytics, social engagement, conversions), you’ll have a better understanding of how to resonate with the user.

I’m currently bridging the gap between data as a science and as an art, in order to tell a story and craft a strategy. At least, that’s how I summarized it in a tweet.

Digital strategy is sometimes a complicated idea. Let’s boil this down to basics. I’m assessing: web analytics, marketing and financial reports, market profile data, and more. The result is the calculated formation of how the client will present online and connect with target markets.

And it’s pretty awesome. Data paints a pretty clear picture, when you know how to put it all together.

That said, I apologize for the gaps in my updates. I’ll be sure to get blogging back on track as soon as I can. Thanks for your patience!

I spoke at LA2M last Wednesday.

Engaging a Target Market: Graduating from User Traffic to User Advocate
Driving website traffic is often a significant part of your online marketing budget. Make the most of your investment by turning traffic into an engaged user advocate. You’ll learn how to turn your users into brand promoters by qualifying traffic sources, creating an engagement-friendly website, and letting your users know you’re plugged in!

Here is the presentation slides and video:

Presentation begins at 20:00 below:

More information at LA2M.