If you’ve ever been a DJ you’ll know how impressive this is, we can assure you no records were hurt in the making of this video, these stunts were performed by professionals and should not be tried at home.
Archive for Blog
Apple v Samsung – Clash of the Titans?
Embroiled in a long and exhausting patent disputes between two of the largest Mobile devices manufacturers, their Chiefs have decided to meet up and try to find a way to resolve their dispute. About time we would say – saves them load bucks from legal fees!
The article below give more detail about the show-down:
Apple CEO Tim Cook and Samsung CEO Choi Gee-sung will meet to try and find a resolution to the ongoing patent dispute between the companies that has gone global over the past year, reports Reuters.
A California court filing revealed that the company bosses will be joined by the general counsels for their firms to discuss the issues which originated when Apple accused Samsung of “slavishly” copying its iPhone and iPad designs for the Galaxy range of smartphones and tablets in a US lawsuit back in April last year.
Read the rest here
Top 7 Tips for Writing PPC ad copy for Mobile and Desktop
A great deal of talk in paid search advertising is about relevant keywords which helps with the efficient distribution of your ad. In fact, they place the ad right in the eyes of your potential customer.
Most people would think that that is enough. But it isn’t. It takes a good ad for the potential customer to actually see it and respond to it. More than just writing creative ads the essence should be to create activity (Improve CTR & Conversions). A high CTR is a great advantage when you bid by Google’s rules.
So, when beginning to write from scratch or re-write your existing ad text, do a Q&A on the below 7 points of the ad text checklist.
- Which top keywords from your ad group should be incorporated into the ad copy?
- What is the main message that you want your customers to know? What solution do you provide?
- How does your company differ to your competitors? What are the top 3 benefits you offer your clients/customers?
- What promotional offers (if any) does your company currently offer?
- What would get you to click through this ad if typing in xxx keywords?
- What answer is the searcher trying to find? i.e. Are you fulfilling the searcher’s needs?
- Last but not the least, why should the searcher click on your ad?
Answering these seven questions, will help you to write your relevant ad text. Once you’ve completed writing your ad text, use the checklist below to be sure you’ve written a benefit-oriented, attention-getting, call-to-action driven ad text!
Title
- Does the ad title grab your audience’s attention?
- Does the title contain at least one of your keywords?
- Does the ad title initially answer a question?
- Does the ad title differ from your competitors?
Description
- Does the description contain at least one keyword?
- Does the description answer the searchers question?
- Does the description engage users to read on?
- Does the description contain a call to action?
- Is the description limited in any way?
- Are there any promotional offers in the description?
- Is the description different from your competitors?
- Can the searcher tell the benefit from reading the description?
Display URL
- Does the display url contain sentence caps?
- Does the display url match the destination url?
Destination URL
- Does the destination url take searchers to the correct page?
- Does the destination url need any tracking?
Test-Learn-Test should always the approach and use the above guide &checklist every time you write or re-write your ad text to ensure you’re targeting the right customer and gaining an advantage over your competition.
TESCO Mobile PPC Strategy with poor UAT
Now, we’d like to make it clear that we’re definitely not on any kind of witch hunt here, but as with everything once something comes across your radar its human nature to focus in on this. Noticing another error this week, this time the live site links linking to a dev page, again we’re not sure quite whats happening behind the scenes here, but broken user experiences such as this will always have some degree of detrimental effect on the users brand affiliation, not to mention the potential lost revenue. Be interesting to see if there are any comments posted on the review forum as a result.
6 ‘Musts’ to Optimise for Mobile Conversions
Almost 53% of the UK population now own smartphones which has resulted in the rise of touchscreen technology, 3G, and soaring tablet sales. This has sparked a surge in interest from big brand in all sectors looking for a solution to capitalise on the shift in users habits from desktop PCs and laptops to mobile devices.
Developing a mobile website is an important first step in capitalising on the mobile opportunity, but simply launching a mobile website obviously isn’t enough. Most businesses want to be mobilised to drive conversions.
There are some basic principles that need to be considered when devising your mobile conversion strategy:
1. Search and browsing behavioural patterns on mobile vs. desktop will differ
Mobile users find route of least resistance when browsing the web whereas desktop users are more likely to engage in heavy research before purchasing. For example, PPC on a mobile device is very heavily focused towards 1 or 2 word keyphrases, on desktop the long-tail rules.
2. Users need a simplified, but not content-lite site
Usability on mobile devices is much more in the public consciousness than it ever was for desktop browsing. Just because you want a mobile site that’s easy to use, even when you’re it doesn’t mean you don’t want key information about the product listing.
3. Mobile relevant calls-to-action aid conversion
This applies for your outreach work, users are much more inclined to click on your ads from a mobile device if it’s made clear to them they’re going to get a mobile specific experience. “Book easily on your mobile” has worked a treat for us
4. Page load time - spare a thought for those poor old customers who want to buy on the go!
Although this will become less important with the launch of 4G in late 2012/2013 it will be some time before a significant portion of the population will be 4G ready.
5. Device split landing page
Devil’s in the detail with this one. There are hundreds of different mobile screen sizes, each one with a customer behind them expecting you to have thought of them. We’ve got around this problem with our clients by building auto-resizing software which automatically fits the landing page or site to a users device, but this needs to be sure to be included in any site redesigns.
Don’t forget about tablets. Tablet users behave more like desktopers, mobiles very differently and show differences by operating system.
Paddy Power have done this well by moving away from their sports betting competitors, who all share the same platform, by building a proprietary cross-device platform specifically for their users:
6. A/B Split testing
If it’s good enough for your desktop activity it’s good enough for mobile. There’s no reason why multivariate testing shouldn’t be applied to a mobile website. In most cases given the fact that even the most minor details can have a dramatic effect on conversions in a mobile environment.
Apple finally starts to restrict UDID in the App store
During September 2011 Apple started to make noises about their proposed depracation of the UDID tags within iPhone and iPad applications. This time has finally arrived and this week has seen the beginning of the end for UDID creating a hive of activity behind the scenes for many of the mobile networks reliant on UDID. Although a wholesale embargo on app’s containing UDID is not yet in place (with no official announcement from Apple on the matter) this still jeopardises delivery dates of applications due to rejected app store submissions, something which all developers and agencies wish to avoid on behalf of their clients.
Those who don’t know where to look to remedy this situation should look no further than our tracking partners and good friends over at AD-X. This revolutionary (and patented) technology is not reliant on UDID’s and are fast becoming the Google of the 3rd party tracking technology niche, with award nominations flowing in for their work including sister company linking mobile. AD-X have a completely UDID free tracking solution which should negate the need for further releases of existing app’s or re submissions to the store.
See more about the subject with Tech Crunch
Ladbrokes – Mother’s Day Was 8 Days Ago
A desktop Gremlin, but we couldn’t resist:
Tesco Mobile PPC Landing Page Mistake
Tesco Direct sending their users to an error page through their mobile PPC ads. 
SMBs can process Credit Card payments Cheaper using PayPal Here
If you are a small business owner – this post could possibly be music to your ears (or we hope so).
PayPal has just launched its first mobile credit card payment processing gadget called ‘PayPal Here’ which is attachable to any iPhone. You might say how is this different from the market pioneer – Square? We beg to differ. With PayPal Here you can be able to accept major credit cards like Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover and best of all accepts PayPal Account payments. Currently is it available in US, Canada, Australia & Hong Kong to be rolled out in other countries in April 2012.
Still wondering what is so special about this especially if you process high volume card transactions. It comes in cheaper – well 0.05% cheaper than Square. PayPal Here charges 2.7% transaction fee whereas Square charges 2.75%. Furthermore, with PayPal Here you can process checks by taking the picture. There is still more – you have the option of being charged the 2.7% transaction fee from your PayPal account rather than chipping off from the credit card transaction. PayPal dubs it as “the world’s first global mobile payments solution” and we would love to hear what you think.
PayPal has launched a dongle that enables small businesses to accept credit card payments by attaching the device to a smartphone. The dongle effectively transforms the handset into a card reader. The planned launch was leaked earlier this week. New details from the company’s official announcement include that the dongle will be branded PayPal Here. It will have a distinctive triangular shape (pictured).
PayPal Here will compete against a number of similar rivals of which Square is the most prominent. While Square charges a 2.75 percent fee on card transactions, newcomer PayPal will charge a 2.7 percent fee. The payments giant will also offer a one percent cashback to merchants who use a PayPal debit card to make their own purchases
Click here to read more.
Android Leading Mobile Growth in China
Surpassing the US, China is reported to become the largest smartphone market in 2012. This report from IDC also indicates Brazil and India are expected to join the world top 5 mobile markets by 2016.
Android phones under £130 are found to be fuelling the mobile growth in China closely followed by Huawei, Lenovo & ZTE. Nokia and Samsung continue leading the lower end smartphone market.
The article below discuss the insights from this report in more detail.
China is set to become the world’s largest smartphone market in 2012 while Brazil and India are forecast to enter the top five markets by 2016, according to research firm IDC.
IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker forecasts that China will move ahead of the US in terms of overall smartphone shipments this year and extend its lead in the years ahead.
Android devices priced under US$200 will be the main driver for growth in China with prices likely to fall further. In addition, Chinese handset makers Huawei, Lenovo and ZTE are likely to continue to secure large operator deals, while Nokia and Samsung will drive low-end volumes with cheaper smartphones.
India is expected to see “galloping growth” as 3G services are rapidly rolled out and international OEMs invest further in local manufacturing capability. “Demand for smartphones will also grow as urban and enterprise users mature in their handset preferences and usage,” said G. Rajeev, senior market analyst for mobile devices at IDC India.
