Mobile Content

Mobile content describes the many variations of media content that are accessible on mobile devices. This includes text, pictures, videos and advertising media, as well as music content, ringtones and podcasts. The different digital contents are displayed to the user by means of mobile internet, technologies such as HTML5 and CSS3 as well as different devices. Technologies such as GPS, NFC or Augmented Reality make services reliant on geotargeting, mobile payments and interactive learning possible. User patterns of mobile content can be recorded, checked and optimized through Tracking and performance applications. Wth the construction, issue and marketing of content for mobile devices, a high user friendliness is often the main goal.

General information

According to current statistics, the mobile internet contributed around 2,5 billion Gigabytes to world wide data traffic in 2014, and it is estimated that the volume of data in 2017 will be over 4 times that amount. The number of users surfing the mobile web, searching for information or entertainment, and interacting with different content is constantly increasing.

With the Mobile Friendly Updates, search engines highlighted the importance of the different aspects of mobile content. Moreover, Yahoo invested in Flurry – an analysis program for the evaluation of user behavior on mobile devices. It can therefore be assumed that mobile content will become even more popular in the future.

Characteristics of mobile content

There are many important different aspects in the topic of content for mobile devices, largely to do with the characteristics of mobile devices.

• Construction: With the creation of mobile content, aspects like page speed, reader behavior and lack of display space play an important role. Texts are often considerably shorter. A clear structure with titles, sub-headings. paragraphs and bold passages makes the information easier to take-in for the reader. Whilst users on a conventional website quickly scan and read through the F-form, it is assumed that the so-called triangle is more relevant on mobile devices. The user’s eye is drawn to the middle of the display and only partially wanders to the sides of the display. This reader behavior can be supported through the information architecture and the layout.

• Interaction: Pictures, videos and animations should not only be optimized in terms of decreasing the amount of data, but should also be displayed with the current standard, so that the display doesn’t cause any problems. If advertising methods are used, they shouldn’t disrupt the display. In comparison to content which is retrieved from stationary clients, mobile content can be recognized in other ways. The navigation with the short menu, scrolling, or using swipe gestures means that mobile content has to fulfil different conditions than conventional web content that isn’t optimized for mobile use. This becomes particularly clear with the embedding of content in apps, because here, the content can only be included within the framework available on the app.

• Issue: There are essentially three scenarios of providing content to mobile devices. With responsive webdesign, the content will be adapted during the editing process so that the display and interaction possibilities change according to the size of the display. With dynamic URLs, different source code variations will be provided under one URL. A mobile website is identified through the fact that, for every desktop URL, there will be a mobile version. Google prefers Responsive Design. However, depending on the project, it might be useful to use other approaches. It is also a question of budget, although Users are increasingly prepared to pay money for mobile content.

• Performance: There are many ways to measure the performance of mobile content. Sales don’t always stand in the foreground. Even registrations for newsletters, downloads for white papers or shared content in social networks can be KPIs. Technologies such as in-app-tracking and geo-based services make it possible to more precisely understand patterns of use and customer segments. Technologies such as NFC support the performance of user pages in the area of mobile payment.

• Diverse content: The technical characteristics of mobile devices leads to a wide variety of content. Short videos (vines), infographics and pictures can be appropriate means of stimulating user interaction. The same applies to webinars and podcasts. Depending on the customer segment, age group and device (smartphone, tablet, netbook), different types of digital media can specifically target traffic, increase user engagement and generate leads.

Significance for mobile marketing

With Google’s Mobile First Strategy and the mobile friendly update, the trend for the next years has clearly been established. Next to usability, mobile content stands in the center of all considerations regarding how the search intention of the user can be served on mobile devices, and what possibilities are associated with this.

As with the optimization of websites and content in the conventional sense, mobile SEO and mobile content should accompany a sensible content marketing strategy. The content is the core; the mobile framework with its information architecture, programmed and displayed languages, as well as the different output media and communication technologies ideally supplements the user experience on different levels. From the content creation and interaction design to diversified content, there are different aspects to consider. It is useful to have a strategy which considers the different user types, and anticipates which user groups use mobile content.

The technical possibilities are constantly increasing: thanks to NFC, RFID and Augmented Reality, mobile content can completely change the patterns of interaction, and constitutes an element of Ubiquitious computing. With around 34 million mobile internet users and increasing user numbers, this is a considerable market for companies. The chances of positioning well in this market are very versatile and are not only limited to websites. A few examples are Social Gaming, Mobile Payment, Mobile Marketing or Mobile Tracking. There are also many innovative solutions in the area of B2B such as mobile content management, file-sharing, synchronization and mobile distribution software.

Weblinks

• Mobile Content Definition
• 10 Steps To Creating A Mobile-Optimized Content Marketing Strategy
• SEO for mobile devices: common mistakes
• Mobile Content: If in Doubt, Leave It Out