With the increase in the number of smart phones, more and more users are making use of applications to tailor their mobile experience.

DM2PRO and Quattro Wireless compiled a report last year where they questioned over 600 respondents to determine whether or not the respondents have been integrating mobile apps with their brand’s current marketing strategy. According to the report the majority of the respondents haven’t invested in mobile apps yet but 65% of them planned to develop a mobile app in 2010.

On the other hand, those that have invested in mobile apps seem to be limiting the success of their app by not properly marketing it. If the aim of developing the app is to build brand awareness or convert impressions into profit, then a proper promotional plan is needed. On Emarketer.com Noah Elkin looks at the opportunities and challenges mobile apps provide marketers in “App-ortunity” Knocks. To summarise his key points; make sure that there is a consumer need for your app, pay attention to user feedback and keep users engaged with regular updates.

Read the full report by DM2PRO and Quattro Wireless for more information and statistics. Do you think South Africa will follow the same trend and see a significant increase in the number of mobile apps developed in 2010?

In order for a website to be successful and show return on investment, one has to continuously devote time and resources to website improvement and management. We have discussed measuring how visitors engage with a website previously, and to reiterate, this can be measured through analytics software like Google Analytics.

The data derived from Google Analytics can be used strategically as part of your web strategy to improve the overall performance and usefulness of your website to visitors. Some of the criteria that can be tracked in Analytics include:

Visitor statistics
Among other things, Google Analytics will show you how visitors found your website as well as the actions they performed whilst on the website. This data can be used to improve the overall functionality of the website, for instance a page with a high bounce rate may need tweaking. If visitors found your website with a certain keyword and almost immediately left the website it indicates that they did not find the content they were looking for. Make sure your website copy is easy to scan by bolding keywords and key-phrases and make use of interlinking. If a visitor lands on a certain page they need to be able to determine within seconds if your website has the information they are looking for.

Visits through mobile devices
Do you know how many people are viewing your website on a mobile device? In Google Analytics you are able to see which mobile devices they used to view the website as well as which cellular networks your visitors use under the Visitors tab.  Have you accessed your website through a cellphone yet and is it loading properly? If not, check it.

Site overlay tool
Another useful tool in Google Analytics is the Site Overlay under the Content tab. When you select this option you are shown where visitors click on your website as a percentage of clicks over a certain period.

The above are only a few of the things you can track through Google Analytics. To find out how to make the most of Google Analytics visit Google’s Conversion University.   Do you see your website as a project that needs continuous management or not?

South by Southwest, better known as SXSW is taking place in Austin in March 2010. Joey da Silva, Director at FormFunction will be attending South by Southwest (SXSW) Interactive from 12- 16 March. This year marks SXSW’s 24th year, and the event has grown to become one of the world’s biggest music and media conferences. For those that don’t know what SXSW Interactive is about, below is a video we found via GeekDigest.co.za.

Joey will attend SXSW as part of a group of South Africans who will be representing the South African geek community. If you are attending and have an iPhone you can download the official my.SXSW app to make sure you get the most out of the SXSW conference. This app allows you to “view/build your schedule, map conference and festival events each hour, exchange contact info with people you meet, view news, and search events, and venues.”

For a full list of attendees, visit GeekDigest.co.za. Keep in the loop by following their tweets on Twitter, the official hash tag is #sxswSA. Keep an eye on our blog for a SXSW update from Joey!