Do you know 32% of Internet Browsers are using Mobile Devices? and by the end of 2012, this number will exceed the Internet Browsers who are using laptops or desktop computers.

Means this is the right time, to make sure that, your side is mobile friendly. Just like we care about cross-browser compatibility, similarly, we have to make sure, our site is Cross-Device compatible too.

Flash Doesn’t work on iPhone and iPad.

How to make sure my site is Mobile Friendly or not?

If your answer is YES for following basic questions, Congratulation, you have mobile friendly site.

1. I don’t have to use zoom feature on my mobile device to read text or see the pictures.
2. When I open my site on mobile device, i don’t see anything missing.
3. My site buttons work perfect with thumb touch.
4. Your site loads in less than 3 seconds.

• run Safari,
• click on Edit -> Preference
• go to Advanced tab check the checkbox for Show Develop menu in menu bar option
• exit from the Preference dialog window,
• a new “Develop” menu will show in the menu bar click on the Develop,
• select the User Agent in the pull down menu
• click to select Mobile Safari – iPhone

The survey by online research company Effective Measure and Spot On Public Relations of 7,000 internet users found that highest percentage of internet shoppers in the MENA region was in GCC countries.

But, compared to other global markets, like the UK where 62 percent of internet users shop online, the region is far behind, the firms said in a statement.

The latest survey of internet users in the Middle East and North Africa region has shown just three in 10 purchase goods and services online.

The survey by online research company Effective Measure and Spot On Public Relations of 7,000 internet users found that highest percentage of internet shoppers in the MENA region was in GCC countries.

But, compared to other global markets, like the UK where 62 percent of internet users shop online, the region is far behind, the firms said in a statement.

“There is undoubtedly enormous potential for growth in the MENA online retail sector,” said Brendon Ogilvy, vice president, digital insight at Effective Measures.

“Despite the fact that the overall level of online shopping activity is low, at 32 percent of internet users, that still represents a market of more than 20 million online shoppers across the Arab world.”

The survey also found that female shoppers are more likely to buy clothes and accessories, while men more often go for electronics.

In the GCC, top buys online during June, July and August include airline tickets (31 percent), hotel reservation and tourism services (15 percent), books (15 percent), computer software (14 percent) and clothing, accessories and shows (12 percent).

A new report from Econsultancy suggests that email still beats social networks when it comes to marketing for e-commerce. The report says that over a third (37%) of consumers don’t use a social networking site, and that those who have become a “fan” or “friend” of a company or brand online are still in the minority.

The report is based on a survey of over 1,400 U.S. consumers, which the firm calls “nationally representative.”

Facebook with 500 million users may think email is “probably going away,” marketers are still having a great deal of success with it. And just as increased mobile adoption continues to fuel social media use, it’s not exactly hurting email.
The report suggests that the rise of mobile will continue fuel email’s success. It notes that each generation of chipsets moves mobile devices closer to the personal computer. “Advanced behaviors today (accessing the Internet or checking email from a mobile device) will clearly soon be commonplace, at least for people in their working years. Nearly two-thirds of people under 24 have checked email on a mobile device,” Econsultancy says.

“Online product research contributes a far larger percentage of total retail than the 8% directly attributed to e-commerce, while the evolving nature of digital interaction and customer service is changing the fundamental relationship between companies and consumers,” says Econsultancy’s US Research Director, Stefan Tornquist. “The winners will be those who use digital communications most effectively, to influence and enable both online and offline purchases.”

“Although a variety of media are competing for consumer attention, email continues to be the desired channel for many types of commercial communication,” adds Tornquist. “Social networking and its effect on the nature of brand is the hottest topic in digital marketing, and deservedly so. It’s still worthwhile for marketers to remember that social network adoption is far from maturity.”

I am attaching here slides of presentation, I presented at Webpreneur Camp (23rd July 2010).

If you have any question, feel free to ask in comments, and i will love to answer. Please share it with your friends and colleagues freely.

ICDL has reported that the imminent electronic transformation and the growing digital awareness are the primary contributing factors to the growth of e-Commerce. This growth has prompted further investments in both modern technologies that have helped expand trade over the Internet and also in the provision of the required infrastructure, shaping the Gulf region into a successful model for ICT implementations among other Arab countries.

Because e-Commerce has become an integral component of the global economy, the World Trade Organization (WTO) is considering how it fits into the multilateral trade framework and what commercial rules or regulations should apply. It has gone further to appoint councils from each ‘cross-cutting’ issue to investigate the effect of e-Commerce on global trade. These councils include the Council on Trade in Goods; the Council on Trade in Services; the Council on Trade-Related Intellectual Property; and the Committee on Trade and Development.

The growth of e-Commerce in the region has led to increased focus on strategic planning to promote digital awareness in an attempt to reach a knowledge-based economy, which already had a positive impact on various e-Government initiatives launched in the region. In the same context, trade experts saw that the GCC member states are diligently working on further developing e-Commerce to realize higher levels of efficiency and productivity. Consequently, in an open world economy dominated by competitive pressure to achieve profitability, promoting this means of commerce has become an urgent need, specifically in the areas of trade, finance and purchasing over the Internet.

Jamil Ezzo, Director General of ICDL GCC Foundation, said: “Promoting digital awareness within the Gulf society and establishing the basis for a knowledge-based economy, including e-Commerce, have become significant components in sustaining economic development in the region. It is therefore crucial to set a strategic direction that ensures a strong commitment by all stakeholders to cultivate socio-economic growth by adopting new digital solutions and by leveraging the Internet in various commercial and non-commercial activities.”

Ezzo added: “The current boom in e-Commerce in the region has reflected on the growing use of other trade media, such as telephone, fax, television and electronic payment. It has also generated new entrepreneurial and employment opportunities; and created significant changes in the skills required in today’s job market. Hence, it must be noted that the success of e-Commerce is not only contingent on general public awareness, but equally important is the presence of qualified human resources that can support the dynamics in the job market which ultimately leads to reducing unemployment.”

The Gulf region is considered as one of the leading regions in terms of developing a robust environment for information and communication technology by implementing a series of training programs and forging strategic partnerships with leading regional and international organizations that specialize in modern techniques and technology. There are many variables that could be leveraged in the process of nationalizing e-Commerce, which contribute in the equal distribution of general services and reducing the prices of goods and high costs in marketing and advertising operations.

Related Post: Internet Marketing Vs Conventional Marketing

Internet users in the MENA region spend more time surfing the web than they do watching television, prompting analysts to predict a rise in spending on online advertising.

Between 1 and 2 per cent of total advertising spending in the region goes to digital media; a tiny amount compared with TV, the dominant medium.

But with the region’s youth starting to turn their backs on TV in favour of the internet, this could soon change, analysts say.

An online survey of media consumption habits found 88 per cent of respondents browse the internet daily, while only 70 per cent of those questioned said they watched TV every day of the week.

Just 25 per cent of the respondents said they watched TV for more than three hours a day, compared with the 51 per cent who said

they spent more than three hours a day surfing the web.

The region’s internet users “have a preference to going online as opposed to [watching] television”, said Brendon Ogilvy, the vice president of digital insights at Effective Measure, the audience measurement company that carried out the research.

Ian Sanders, the lead partner for telecommunications, media and technology at the consultancy PricewaterhouseCoopers Middle East, said while internet penetration was relatively low in the region, those who were online tended to be “quite active”.

“The generation that’s spending a lot of time online and on social-networking sites are tending to spend less time watching TV,” Mr Sanders said.

“And if they want to watch TV, they do so via non-linear sites like YouTube. This is an indication of what the future holds. You’ll see online ad spend increasing.”

Avi Bhojani, the chief executive of the Dubai marketing and communications agency BPG Group, agreed that the increasing amount of time spent online could help boost digital advertising.

“Online ad sales are growing at a rate far faster than the traditional media because that’s where the eyeballs are,” Mr Bhojani said.

Effective Measure questioned 2,587 MENA residents, most of whom were male graduates under the age of 30 who were holding skilled jobs.

About 48 per cent of the respondents lived in Egypt and 38 per cent in the GCC.

MENA has relatively low levels of broadband penetration and the survey is representative only of consumers who already have access to the internet.

Saudi Arabia, the most populous country in the Gulf, had an internet penetration rate of 38.1 per cent at the end of last year, figures from the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) show. The ITU also found Egypt had a penetration rate of just 20 per cent.

By comparison, developed countries such as the UK and Canada have internet penetration rates of 83.5 per cent and 78.1 per cent respectively.

While the Effective Measure survey is skewed towards a young, relatively wealthy segment of the population with good knowledge of the internet, it throws light on how media consumption habits in the region could change as more residents have access to the internet.

Mr Ogilvy said “the amount of time spent online compared with other mediums was surprising”, but he played down the likelihood that the time spent online by the region’s consumers would see a drop in TV advertising.

“It doesn’t necessarily mean the internet is more attractive to advertisers [compared with TV]. It should just be seen as another medium,” he said.

Mazen Hayek, the director of public relations and commercial for MBC Group, said TV would remain the dominant medium in the region for “the foreseeable future”.

“TV penetration is 95 per cent across the MENA region,” Mr Hayek said. “What about PC penetration, or the literacy rates? TV remains the primary and dominant source of entertainment in the Middle East and North Africa by far.”

But he added MBC Group was “increasingly thinking of multiple touchpoints” for the delivery of its content, including online and mobile.

But questions are:

• How to be successful on Social Media?
• And how to use Social Media Power for our success?

Based on my 2 years of experience and lot of time I spend on Internet to learn it, i have chalked out following ten steps, that brings Social Media Success. Ofcourse, level of success will be different for each person based on understanding, luck and hard work.

1. Start with your own blog and make it the focal point of all your social media accounts with links to and from it. Your blog is where you show who you are and that you are a real person. People want to know about the people they do business with, and in a digital world your blog is the best place to show them.

   Although you have free choices like wordpress and bloggers, but its always better to have blog on your own domain, as by this way, you develop your own brand. And its not expensive in any way. Just for 10$ Domain and 40$ Web Hosting. Means in 50$ per year you can start your own blog. WordPress can be installed on many hosting accounts with one click and you can start with free theme. And at later stage when you taste success, you can hire a professional web designer for better one.

2. Open accounts with Facebook, Twitter, Stumbleupon, Digg and LinkedIn. On each of these sites, find users who share your interests. There are thousands of social media sites, but start with the biggest. Find and join social sites for the specific markets you work in, eg WAYN for travel, Kaboodle for shoppers,Peak Performance for athletes, Sphinn for online marketing, MPORA for extreme sports, etc. Make sure people know about your social media accounts. Link to them on your blog, in your email signature and on your newsletters.
3. Pick a nice professional picture of you that stands out. This is the photo or graphic accompanying your accounts and it is how you will be recognized. If in doubt about what to use, keep it simple, just your own picture.
4. Be open and accessible. Make all your social media accounts known and open to contact, comments and chat. Make friends. This is harder in start as there is little reason for someone who does not know you to be your friend. The key is to make yourself useful and to avoid being irritating. Searching for people with the same interests as you, usually gets good results. Join Groups of your find and you will find many people with same interest. Now you can start adding them in your account with a nice message, and most of them will reply positive.
5. Be authentic. Don’t fake it. Be yourself – you are what is unique and interesting about you. Behave like gentle man. Be polite.
6. The easiest way to be popular is to be helpful. Everyone loves someone who will help them at no cost. It also displays your expertise, builds your brand and reputation. Remember 90-10 Rule. It means 90% of your posts should be for helping others or sharing useful contents. Only 10% should be about you or your business. And still when you share about your business, be sure to share things in a group, it is relevant to. If you will just remain sending affiliate links or other posts about your business, people will fedup. Golden rule of Internet Marketing is: Be responsive rather than interruptive. Means, when people need, then tell about your services or products.
7. Only present high quality stories to sites like Digg and StumbleUpon. Do not submit your own content initially. Vote on stories that are in your niche. Write Comments on your niche related blogs. Be seen to be the expert that you are.
   
8. Find interesting stories within your niche before anyone else. Use RSS or Twitter to subscribe to news and specialists sites whose content users of your social sites love. Google Alert is very powerful tool when coupled with Google Reader. This is how power users got to be who they are.
9. Make a simple time sheet. Often, in start people spend too much time on Facebook and other Social media, and soon they get fatigue, and loose patience. A Time sheet will also help you to be more productive. For Example, 45 mins on Facebook, (20 mins in reading friend’s posts and news, 10 minutes for answering and 15 minutes in adding new friends)
10. Be persistent. Spend a small amount of time each day on your accounts. Regular contributions over time will work and help you get noticed. The more people see you around, the more you will build trust.

• Why use a CMS for your next Web Design Project?
• Two Major Reasons you need a CMS based Website

No technical skills needed - There’s no need for you or your colleagues to learn any new software. You simply make the changes to your website online as and when you need to and then view the changes instantaneously.

Update your website from anywhere – Update your website instantly from anywhere in the world on any PC! Make corrections and changes quickly and easily, add text, insert pictures or even place Word documents and PowerPoint presentations to your website as and when you wish at the click of a mouse. (access to the application via password and user name).

Instant corrections – Making corrections, adding copy or files is fast and easy with our completely browser-based, online HTML WYSIWYG (What You See is What You Get) Editing, if you or your users can use Microsoft Word, then you can use Online CMS!

Access levels - Allow multiple users to work on your website by giving them different access levels and permissions.

Link Management - Create links to internal pages and external websites quickly and easily. Its user interface also allows simple browse and click to create hyperlinks.

Training – Is fast, easy and hassle-free!

Code Mode – If you have the skills, switch to code mode at the click of a button and directly edit your html code from your browser!

Benefits of Content Management System

• No risk of accidentally “breaking” or damaging your web site
• Easy integration possible with other back end software
• Quick Response to customer demands for information
• No software installation, maintenance or upgrades required
• Content that is 100% search engine friendly
• Instant addition of hyperlinks, formatted text, images and email links possible

Related Articles:

• Two Major Reasons you need a CMS based Website
• What is CMS?