As we all know at this stage there are a lot of people online, some at PC’s/Laptops and others on smartphones/tablets. According to a recent survey, 75% of people in the world have a mobile phone (an insane figure if you ask me). From this stat an interesting trend has been emerging over the last year or two; the idea of Second Screening or the Second Screen.
What is Second Screening?
Well according to Mashable “The Second Screen is the use of an additional monitor (e.g. tablet, smartphone) while watching television. It allows the audience to interact with what they’re consuming whether it’s a TV show, video game or movie.”
The London Olympics 2012 was a prime example of people second screening. People were watching the events and commenting on everything the saw (the crowd, celebs, athletes, presenters etc) via Twitter, Facebook and other social media platforms.
So how does Second Screening affect your business?
I know that when I watch TV today I’m also online at the same time, looking at web pages, Twitter, Facebook, buying music, or shopping for something that I’ve seen on TV etc. I, like many others, am not as devoted to the actual show as years gone by. I am a second screener. If I see something that interests me I’ll do some research it and more often than not end up on a company’s website or a web store. It doesn’t matter the industry.
In theory this means that you have a much higher potential of people stumbling across your website in Google as they are online more often.
How to help yourself for the Second Screen.
- Make sure your website is responsive. It’s important that if you’re online that when someone comes to your website that they can read it and find their way around it easily. Over the past 18 months I’ve left more sites as I the website didn’t work correctly on my phone.
- Optimise your websites content – make sure you get your content and SEO right. It can take time, but once you make the necessary changes you, and keep an eye on it from time to time, you should appear in more searches and higher up.
- Be on Social Media – Create conversation with your target audience, speak to them about what interest them and solve their problems with your product or service. Be part of their community online. Having a presence on different social media channels will give you more exposure to your target audience.
The important thing to take from this article is that your website needs to be ready for your visitors, no matter what type of device they visit your site from. Don’t frustrate them by not having a responsive website, make it easy for them to get around the website and you’ll hopefully win their attention and who knows what else.
If you’d like to speak to us about your website please just call 01 2990655 or email us at sales@webtrade.ie