Just take a look at these Google Q4 statistics taken from TechCrunch: 250 million Android activation; 11 billion downloads in the Android Marketplace. And we’re just talking about Android. Now take a look at Apple’s figures for the same quarter: 15 million iPads sold, 37 million iPhones and $46 billion in revenues. And to add to the excitement, comScore have released their data last December showing that 38% of smart phone owners made a purchase online. Digital goods (such as ebooks, music, movies), clothing/accessories, tickets and daily deals made up most of these purchases. What these figures are showing is that there is clearly a shift of consumer behavior towards the use of smart phones.
As a website owner, one of your primary goals is to ensure that your traffic keeps going up. Because the more traffic you have, there’s that potential of increasing your CTR (click-thru rate) and also increasing your conversions whether that would mean increasing your sales, adding your leads, growing your lists, etc. And this means studying your target audience’s behaviour and finding out ways to get their attention. This is why you’ll be needing a smart phone strategy. Experts project that the statistics mentioned above will continue to increase and that there would be more people surfing online using their smart phones. So how does one take advantage of this? It’s all about creating a smart phone app that will complement your website and making sure that your website is easy to navigate when visitors use their smart phones. Here are a couple of suggestions:
1 – Use less columns on your website. Unlike a desktop computer, the real estate of the smart phone screen is absolutely limited. Having more columns on your website makes it more harder for the user to navigate your site. Our suggestion would be to have a maximum of two columns where the main content would be on the left column. Off course, just having one column would be the best answer.
2 – Use less graphics. Again, this is something to do with the real estate of the website. So less is more. An alternative to this would be to create web pages that is made specifically for smart phone devices. This means that your website needs to detect what device your website is being accessed from and then serve the pages that is relevant for that device. This definitely would cost more but at least you improve your users’ experience.
3 – Create a smart phone app for your RSS feed. This is great if you have a blog. This means that the user can download your mobile app and with just a double click, access the newest blog post you have. Without an app, it will probably take 3 or more clicks to access your site – assuming that your site has already been bookmarked. And in todays fast paced world, the less click the better.
4 – Get your site mentioned in someone else’s mobile apps. The more mobile apps, the better. This is especially useful if you have an e-commerce site. If you are giving discounts or have an item on sale, look for an app that gives away coupon deals and join their merchant program. This gives more visibility to your product / service and your website.
5 – Advertise. Again, this is about doing research on your target audience. If you know what sites and mobile apps they use, then look for a way to advertise you website either through paid advertisements, link exchange or content exchange.
6 – Join an affiliate program. Affiliate marketers are usually at the forefront of commerce when it comes to new technology and that’s why joining an affiliate program as a merchant increases your website’s exposure to your target audience.
7 – Do not neglect the desktop and the tablets. People will still surf the web with their desktops because of the screen real estate. Some would shift to tablets. So ensure that your website’s user experience is exceptional as these two device are usually a starting point for smart phone users.
Having a smart phone strategy is indeed the new DNA for successful websites. And only a few have done it so far. But that is where the puck is going. As the late Steve Jobs quoted “I skate to where the puck is going be not where it has been”.
And thus, at htmlpress.net, we are introducing new products that will help you achieve this strategy. We start with our HTML5 tutorial and later on will be introducing new stuff in keeping with the times.
The recent website hackings belonging to top companies such as Sony, DreamHost, and others is a continual reminder that even though you have a great website but no backups, then your website is only as good as the last hacking spree. It’s a good thing for WordPress website owners, you have choices as to what backup strategy to implement.
MyEasyBackup is a WordPress plugin that you can install and activate in order to ensure that you have a fallback in the vent your website goes down, get hacked and gets corrupted. Ugo Grandolini, developer of the myEasyBackup plugin, provides us some insight on the history and importance of this WordPress plugin.
htmlpress. What motivated you to develop your plugin?
Ugo. I was looking for a plugin able to save both the MySQL database and the installation files (not to loose the uploaded media) and was not able to find a satisfactory one.
htmlpress. Describe your plugin and explain to our readers how it will benefit their website?
Ugo. The plugin let’s you backup both the MySQL database and the full installation folder. By running periodical backups the user can be sure not to loose all the media files uploaded since the previous backup.
htmlpress. What differentiates your plugin from others in the same category?
Ugo. It was created to be really easy and nice to use it: many users reported I reached the goal already – despite the big number of settings it has. When my main (paid) job allows, I keep improving the plugin features and make it better and better. Whenever someone reports a possible exploit or security issue I promptly take the time to fix it – even if its still a free plugin.
htmlpress. What are your future plans with this plugin?
Ugo. I already have a beta of the PRO version that I am planning to release later that includes scheduled backups as users requested. Actually my main job does not leave me too much time to properly test the beta so I keep delaying the release.
htmlpress. How do you monetize this plugin?
Ugo. I got few donations since the initial release but all in all the development costs are not recovered. Hopefully I will release the PRO version and get some cash in.
htmlpress. What are the different advertising / marketing methods for your plugin?
Ugo. There is a banner in the dashboard showing the user the latest news and the myeasywp.com site itself. Its not a proper campaign, I know, but everything you want to do – if you like to make it almost perfect – requires time…
htmlpress. What advice would you give our readers if they want to develop their own plugin?
Ugo. Do not do it if you plan to recover costs from donations. Do it if you like to code and are willing to learn how to interact with WordPress. Be sure to have a good number of hours if you like to keep your plugin alive.
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Developer: Ugo Grandolini Website: http://myeasywp.com/ The myEasyBackup plugin has now been downloaded more than 40,000 times and enjoys a four star rating in wordpress.org. |
WordPress plugins, with no doubt, can help a website’s overall success. The winner of an international SEO (Search Engine Optimization) competition used WordPress plugins to win the match. Plugins save time so that you do not have to create the engine that can propel your website to new heights. And that’s what the Ultimate TinyMCE plugin is all about. It’s a feature rich WordPress plugin where you can stretch and extend WordPress to improve your website’s usability and also to give it the WoW factor that it deserves. Josh Lobe, the developer of the plugin, tells you more about this plugin in this interview.
htmlpress: What motivated you to develop your plugin?
Josh: When I first installed WordPress, the first flaw I found was with the editor when creating content. I thought, “How in the world can I create my content with only these few options”? I have a fairly strong background with HTML and CSS, so I just bailed on the visual editor and switched to using only the HTML editor.
Then, it occurred to me many people who use WordPress are probably not code savvy. WordPress is used by individuals and business across the globe, and not everyone has the coding experience to fully utilize wordpress in the HTML editor.
htmlpress: Describe your plugin and explain to our readers how it will benefit their website?
Josh: Ultimate Tinymce will add two additional rows of buttons used for visually created advanced posts and pages. Going above basic formatting controls such as bold and italics, Ultimate Tinymce gives the user graphical interfaces for managing features like custom css styles, image mapping, image mouseover and mouseout effects, javascript popup windows, advanced linking options, (just to name a few). All of these without writing a single line of code!
htmlpress: What differentiates your plugin from others in the same category?
Josh: Honestly, I have no idea. I am a grad school business student, and the first rule they teach you is to know your competition. However, I am still in very active development with my plugin and I don’t want to be “jaded” by what everyone else is doing. Instead, I want my plugin to be fresh and unique.
While maintaining my support forum, I have heard of the similar plugins. But I have honestly not installed a single one (at this point).
htmlpress: What are your future plans with this plugin?
Josh: I plan to continue development and try to make it as stable and cross-browser compatible as possible. The default tinymce editor in WordPress is already “buggy” as it is. This plugin certainly has it’s bugs as well.
htmlpress: How do you monetize this plugin?
Josh: I simply rely on the few donations I receive from users who are pleased with the plugin and continue using it on their sites. I have thought about writing “add-on” packs for the plugin and selling those, but I’ve opted against it at this point.
htmlpress: What are the different advertising / marketing methods for your plugin?
Josh: I have added a blogging incentive on my plugin settings page. If a user blogs about the plugin, I will add their name, website, and link to the plugin admin page. So, every user of the plugin will see those blogging links.
I have also made many acquaintances through my support forum along the way. Some of them have allowed me to place banners on their site as a form of “Thanks”.
htmlpress: What advice would you give our readers if they want to develop their own plugin?
Josh: Developing a plugin is certainly a fun endeavor. The WordPress Codex offers a vast collection of resources for developing a plugin (although tough to follow at times). Developing a plugin takes time and patience. It’s certainly not an overnight creation. I spent a month researching and trying code before I released the first version of Ultimate Tinymce.
If you are looking to monetize your plugin, try to find something everyone can use. Unless you have the specific knowledge of writing a plugin which converts the mass of Earth from pounds to grams, you’d probably want to avoid it. Not many people are going to have use for this feature. Rather, find something everyone can relate to (such as images, text, menus, navigation, etc.).
Lastly, plan to be responsive to those who need assistance. Let’s face it; we all don’t like it when someone doesn’t return our calls. The same applies for software support. Plan to have a support forum, or at least a page on your website, where users of your plugin can collaborate and share ideas, and most importantly, you can have a voice in it as well.
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Developer: Joshe Lobe Website: http://www.joshlobe.com/2011/10/ultimate-tinymce/ The Ultimate TinyMCE and has now been downloaded more than 65,000 times and enjoys a five star rating in wordpress.org. |
Who would have thought that building a website that sells customize European license plates can bring in $100K of revenue (which is about $70K-$80K in profits)? But that’s how Sean Percival did it by building customeuropeanplates.com – a website where you can own a customized European licence plate. Later on he sold it for $100K during the Global Financial Crisis.
The website came about after realizing that there is a sub-culture of people in the USA who would like to have a European feel on their car. This stems out from their desire to give their BMW or Volvo a more authentic look. Although the laws varies in different states, most of them would accommodate having such a license plate on the front of a car.
Early Growth
OS Commerce for WordPress is the tool used for building the website. And to grow the website, Sean had to rely on AdWords and SEO (Search Engine Optimization). For AdWords, the Sean and his wife started with just $5-$10 per day as their budget and had their first sale on the first day of their campaign.
Growing the Revenue
The plates are sold roughly for $40 and the business owners’ profit margin would be around $20. So in order to come up with $100K revenue per year, the business owners need to sell about 2500 annually – which is a realistic figure considering that America’s population is over 350 million and that there approximately 10-12 million cars sold every year.
In order to reach this goal, Sean realize that SEO would be the least expensive option. And having experience in SEO, this method turned out to bring in the most traffic to the website. The business owners targetted obvious keywords such as “European plates” or “European license plates” or “German plates”. He also concentrated on building a good landing page where the first five second would really draw the user in to the website. And this involves putting a bit of a Flash program where users can type in the words they like to see on their license plates and how the license plates would look like given the different background and font color the user specified. Sean also limits the use of Flash as it is not really good for SEO when it comes to ranking their website. And as opposed to building a stunning website, Sean concentrated on making it as simple as possible.
Another SEO strategy Sean employed is to look who ranks well for the keywords that he has targetted. He then reached out to them and exchange links. He also wrote articles for them that generates a back link to his site. Because these are websites that rank well for the keywords that he targetted, the search engines looked favorably at his links as being relevant and of high quality. Not all of those he approached agreed as they were direct competitors.
Other marketing strategy that the business owners did was to host other websites of other businesses for free. And from there he then places a link to their website.
Exit Strategy
It was during the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) that brought the business owners to exit the business. When Sean went to one of those auction sites, he saw a similar business that’s for sale for about $18,000. This thought, plus the effects of the GFC, prompted him to look for a buyer. And he resorted to Twitter and found a buyer willing to buy the website for $100K. It was sold within a week.
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