I consider myself technologically informed, but will admit that I am a dinosaur running as fast as I can to stay educated with the ways of the future. Tomorrow is already so 45 seconds ago. Twenty Five years ago, I was one of the first in my circle of friends to have a home computer with Windows. Then, I was in the groove carrying the newest technology made affordable to the general public known as "the cell phone." What a deal... $1 a minute and a phone that was the size of a brick... which over a very short period of time transformed into smaller, more convenient devices with packaged minutes at even better rates. At the same time, computer technology continued to develop and the laptop and air card became my best friend, giving me the unbelievable freedom to mix work and pleasure in a new fashion.
Then, the Apple IPhone came out and not being a MAC fanatic, my general thought was "so what, I have my Blackberry." That was until about 3 weeks after their release and a friend of mine was playing with his at a Self Storage Show. He handed it to me to show me the ease of it's operation and I immediately fell in LOVE. I went out and purchased one for my work phone. The addiction was cemented the first time I dropped and broke the screen on my phone. I found myself driving an hour out of my way to get to a store to replace my phone. The ease of access to the Internet and web based operating systems has made managing several properties possible on the go.
In using my phone on a daily basis, I have learned to Facebook, Twitter, get property reports, fix customer payment problems, search for hotels, make plane reservations, use as GPS, send pictures to the IT guy, text the son, and let's not forget staying in touch with the wife. That is the way my day starts before I even start talking to people. I find myself continually getting further away from my standard laptop and even Ipad due to the continued advancements being made for the "SmartPhones". Still, I'm waiting for my son to show me the app that will allow me to print from my IPhone to several different printers, and I will be thrilled.
I think I'm advanced until I get together with the family and the 10 and 12 year old relatives have their own "SmartPhones" with more apps than I want and the ability to host their own Hot Spots. I then realize the continued growth of Internet usage on these devices will be how the next generation will be making purchasing decisions and will be obtaining their information. Then, I also realize that the Facebook posting from my elderly aunt is being done via her IPhone. During a FaceTime conversation, she let me know that she does all of her banking and bill paying on the Internet using her phone.
The latest numbers I saw concerning SmartPhone Internet usage are as follows: 1 in 3 mobile Internet searches are local. After looking up a site on a SmartPhone, 61% call a telephone number and 59% visit the location. In a recent conference call, one of the Self Storage REIT's disclosed that in the last 6 months, their mobile searches have gone from 8% of their traffic to 17% of their internet traffic and that mobile searches result in calls from 60-65% of mobile searches in comparison to 18-20% from standard internet searches.
The other thing that I noticed is what pages attracted the women in the family. They still account for 60 to 70% of purchasing decisions in the home. The ability to access a site quickly, with the information such as coupon, prices, telephone number, and map were the top five items that kept them on a page. Websites that had white backgrounds and sharp distinct colors grabbed their attention. Having "call to action" verbiage and easy manueverability to find information is what keeps them from bouncing off of a page.
Keeping your website up to date and able to load fast to mobile applications will continue to be the direction of technology development. As you update your site, look at your competitors and compare how they load to mobile devices. Does what you have on the landing page have the content to make you want to stay or explore? If you really want to know what works find 5 to 10 young ladies between the ages of 16 and 30 with their SmartPhones. Give them the list of competitors sites and ask them what they liked and disliked about each site. The answers might surprise you!
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