==content_digital==

Category Archives: Mobile

Virtual Reality: Help or Hinder Tourism?

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Gina's November presentation to the Tourism Industry Association New Zealand delves into the Big Question - will virtual reality help or hinder tourism business?

Virtual reality is the biggest game-changer in our lives since the launch of the iPhone.

The seemingly simple ability to see an image or video in 360 degrees is about to revolutionise the way we live.

Imagine being able to virtually travel anywhere in the world from the comfort of your own home. Fly over the Grand Canyon looking up, down and all around you as if you were really there, or “dive” underwater at the Great Barrier Reef and watch as a turtle swims past you.

Jaunt, a VR technology and content company, claims “You will feel transported directly into the middle of the action. Look anywhere. See...

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Google's Warning to Non Mobile Friendly Websites

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All we seem to be reading about at the moment is the Google Mobile "Armageddon", the premise that on the 21 April if you are not mobile-friendly your website will be surreptitiously wiped off the face of search.

But it’s not quite all that dramatic. Let’s look at what is actually involved and whether you should be panicking just yet.


WHAT’S SO BIG ABOUT MOBILE?

We've been telling our tourism clients this for some time now: you must invest in a mobile-friendly (ideally responsive) website to succeed online. It’s no longer a “nice-to-have” - it’s a must-have.

  • There are 1.08 billion smartphones in the world
  • 50% of local search is done on a mobile device
  • Nearly half of consumers say they won’t return to a website if it doesn’t load well on mobile

Last year...

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Online tourism promotion today

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online travel purchasing and distribution trends

Today, travellers are empowered by instant access to information, at any time and on any device be it computer, tablet or on a mobile phone, and while at work or waiting in line for a coffee. So it is easy to understand why over 78% of travel research is now done online.

And it is not just about research but inspiration; 29% of Facebook users claim they have been motivated to book a trip based on a posting they saw.

Internet travel booking revenue has grown by more than 73% over the past five years providing over 50% of a businesses' bookings. A company's online presence can make or break them. But you don't have to take our word for it, see the latest statics from June 2013 about online travel sales

 

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Responsive website or mobile specific website? What do you need?

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Tourism-Mobile-Revolution_enMobile is offering the biggest shift and growth opportunity we have seen since the birth of the world-wide-web. Twenty percent of travel is researched via a mobile device and surveys indicate that this number will grow to 50 percent in just over a year.

And, distinguishing the difference between a mobile specific site, a responsive site and an app is important, as these are different.

Apps are custom-made applications that your customers need to download onto their smart phone to use.

Mobile websites are accessed on the web browser of a mobile phone. Learning the different types of mobile sites available along with the pros and cons of each can help you confidently choose the best option for your business.

1."Honey I shrunk the website": This mobile site is a copy of your...

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How many people are viewing your site on their mobile phone?

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Curious about how many people are viewing your site on a mobile phone? You can easily find out using Google Analytics.

You'll need to have analytics installed on your website first, which is totally free and just requires a Google email address for you to create the account.

If you've got Google running, log in and head to "Audience" and then select the "Mobile" option. The "Overview" and "Devices" dropdowns will appear.

mobile visits in analytics

On "Overview" you'll be able to see the number of people viewing on a mobile device vs. a desktop, find out how many pages they look at and how many of those visits "Bounce" which means they look at one page, and then exit the site:

Number of Mobile Visits on Google Analytics

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Choosing the right mobile website type

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So, you understand that the world is going mobile and you need to get a mobile site for your business - but now what?

First, don't panic, they aren't as expensive as you might think!

Learning the different types of mobile sites available along with the pros and cons of each can help you bravely enter the world of mobile. Mobile is offering the biggest shift and growth opportunity we have seen since the birth of the world-wide-web.

Also, distinguishing the difference between a mobile site and an 'app' is important, as these are very different and often confused.

Apps are custom-made applications that your customers need to download onto their smart phone to use. Mobile websites are accessed on the web browser of a mobile phone, and are generally a mobile friendly or...

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