Internet Marketing News
Victoria web development trends change every single year. For Victoria business owners and decision-makers, it's vital to be familiar with changes to remain relevant and competitive.
The first development trend we will focus on in this multi-part series of articles are Progressive Web Apps (PWA).
A PWA is mobile web page that acts and feels like a regular, native app.
Like apps most users are already familiar with, a PWA can be accessed via the home screen of a smartphone and share many of the same functionalities of native apps, providing a nearly identical user experience.
However, PWA pushes the world wide web forward making website browsing experience closer to native mobile applications and, therefore, more friendly to users. Ultimately, a PWA is a website which offers functionality traditionally available to native apps (e.g. push notifications, offline access, hardware access).
Some of the more popular PWAs currently include Starbucks, Housing.com, Flipboard, Alibaba and Forbes.
The motivation behind developing PWAs is the fact mobile views dominate other devices such as desktops or tablets and there is a big gap between using mobile apps and mobile browsers as applications account for more than 80% of the overall time users spend with their gadgets.
Users want fast, easily accessed tools on their mobile devices and PWAs server this purpose.
Victoria retailers prepare for online sales and marketing opportunities
Victoria websites and Victoria online retailers is getting a second Boxing Day, just a couple months earlier, sort of.
Canadian bargain hunters will be seeking out bargains south and north of the border on November 29, when stores and online shopping websites in Canada will be competing for customers accustomed to the huge retail day that traditionally follows US Thanksgiving. Victoria retailers and online retailers hope to be inundated by deal-loving shoppers looking for the most current, cheap fashions and trendy winter clothing and beauty products.
Canadians will be searching the malls and Google for deals that rival Boxing Day. Online shopping websites featuring cheap purses, jeans, sweaters, scarves, coats, shoes and gloves are among the most popular during past Black Fridays. Expect this trend to continue and expand to Canada.
Victoria ecommerce and Victoria online retailers need to ensure their company, products and services are indexed and found on the major search engines including Google, Bing and Yahoo to tap into this market. And, most importantly, Victoria online retailers have to ensure the brand names they carry, including Coach, Burberry, Dolce and Gabbana and others, are found by aspiring customers at their place of business and their website.
So, you are a Victoria BC business owner and you have just embarked on a corporate web development project. Your web developer has produced a marvellous wire frame web design that captures the essence of your business perfectly. Your business website has the right layout, colours, images and text. Perfect. You pull the development site up on Firefox and everything works great, looks great and hums along nicely.
While it is still very early, anecdotal evidence suggests the BlackBerry Z10 is selling well in the United Kingdom since hitting the shelves the last week of January.
Investors seem impressed, boosting. The BlackBerry company's shares (TSX:BB) more than 15 per cent on Feb. 4, moving ahead $1.98 to close at $14.99 on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
According to news stories, lineups were forming at U.K. stores with widespread sell outs of the white Z10 and limited stock of the black Z10.
The BlackBerry company (formerly known as Research In Motion) is scrambling to recover lost ground in the smart phone market. So far, it has enjoyed a large number of positive reviews for the Z10, its new touchscreen phone. A keypad version is expected to launch in April.
The Canadian launch was on Feb. 5 and will enter U.S. stores in March. Victoria smartphone retailers appear enthusiastic about the arrival of the Z10 with many reporting strong pre-launch interest from Victoria business people and recreational users alike.