According to the latest research on what consumers are looking for on the web, product searches have been taken over by fitness, mobile devices and gaming consoles. This leads experts to believe that this holiday season will see a run on these types of items to be given as gifts. These findings also have implications for anyone who is advertising on the Internet. If more people are choosing to go with tablets and mobile devices, it is important to be sure that your website is responsive and is optimized for your target audience.
What’s Hot and What’s Not
The latest Experian Marketing Services reports claims that search trends for the weeks of October 12 through November 9 indicate these are the hottest products, in order of search rank preference:
1) Uggs–a brand of boots
2) PS4–a gaming console system
3) Xbox One–a gaming console system
4) Fitbit–a personal fitness monitor
5) iPhone 5s–the latest model of iPhone
6) iPad Air–a tablet device
7) Rainbow Loom–a toy that creates twisted bracelets
8) Kindle Fire HD–a personal reading device that can also act as a tablet
9) iPhone 5c–another new iPhone model
10) Call of Duty Ghosts–a video game
The most searched brand name was Apple, while Samsung, Microsoft and Kindle also had high numbers. Tablets were the hottest tech search item with smart phones running closely behind.
What It Means For You
Besides the fact that you may want to stock up early on your holiday shopping, these numbers may also impact how you structure your web advertising strategy. The high level of interest in tablets and smart phones is a clear indication that mobile web design is becoming more critical than ever for those who are advertising in every market.
Even if you are a service-based industry rather than retail, it is likely that people in the future will be finding you on mobile devices. Therefore, it is very important to take away from these numbers the urgency in getting your website up to mobile standards.
Responsive web design means that from the coding to the final experience, your website is designed to appear in the hands of people holding tablets and smart phones and that their experience in navigating your site is a pleasant one on these devices. While it is not time to throw away your old website, it may well be time to consider updating it to reflect the new mobile usage generation.