What’s better? An App or a kicked-up mobile website?
The answer depends on your goals, customer base and many other factors. Many web designers will tell you a good mobile website is all you need. We’ve found web designers usually don’t know how to build apps, so their recommendation is based on their capabilities, not necessarily the most appropriate solution. In this article we’ll give you an extremely brief overview to help you begin to make an informed choice.

The Universal Availability Argument

The strongest argument for the “mobile website only” approach is it works on just about any web-enabled device, so there’s no need to develop for multiple platforms. This is definitely a great strength that is budget-friendly and saves many hours of work, but it is only a small part of the discussion.

The biggest weakness in this approach is your mobile presence will be limited to the behaviors and capabilities of a mobile web browser; that is HTML5, JavaScript and CSS. These technologies can do quite a bit but they definitely do not take full advantage of the devices’ capabilities and potential for an excellent user experience.

There are other pros and cons like app store presence, distribution options, etc., but they are relatively minor.

Functionality and User Experience

A native app (or app built on the device’s operating system rather than its web browser) offers a much better user experience (UX) which is one of its biggest advantages. The interface is smoother and fully integrated with the phone, so apps are much more fulfilling to use than a mobile website.

Apps can work well offline, a huge consideration that is often overlooked. For example, shopping via mobile website where a user adds items to a cart would be a frustrating experience in an area with less than superb coverage. The likely result is abandonment and brand damage. A native app can store an entire product catalog, only requiring an Internet connection for the final confirmation and purchase.

Another advantage is that apps generally have better access to more of the hardware specific features - GPS, camera, storage etc. This advantage is likely to erode as browsers improve (mobile Safari already includes a GPS call), but at this point integrated features don’t offer a very user friendly experience.

Thanks to the iTunes App Store and Android Market, apps are easier to distribute. When downloaded, they automatically get a place on the home screen and tend to promote quick bursts of daily brand interaction for short periods of time. A mobile website can be added to the home screen but the process must be initiated by the user from the browser.

How to Decide

The decision process is pretty easy. If both methods can accomplish your goals, what is the revenue potential? What do your analytics show you? If most of your mobile users are iPhone users, it stands to reason to offer them and app for the best possible outcome. Which option offers you the most revenue potential? What is best for your brand?

Still not sure what to do? Give us a shout, we’ll be glad to talk with you and provide expert advice, options to review and a recommendation for moving forward.

The Intern's Blog

Hi, my name is Reed Barnes, and I'm interning at Speak Creative for a few days this week. I'm in the eighth grade. My school has an internship program for eighth graders,  where we all find what we're interested in, find a business we'd like to work with, and try to set up an internship with that business. I knew that I was very interested in programming and web design, and Speak had done an app for my mom's company, so I'm interning here from February 15th to the 17th. I've learned a lot about the web- and app-design businesses while I've been here.

At Speak, there's a lot more work with people than I thought. So much of the business is about talking to clients, whether it's talking with them about the benefits of a website redesign, meeting with them to discuss which design they like best, or walking them through how to work with the finished product. Of course, there's a lot of fancy code (see below) that I can't understand, and there's a lot of staring at computers. Still, Speak puts a ton of time and effort into making their clients happy by making sure they're in contact every step of the way. And of course, the "client snacks" (see below #2) help seal the deal.

I've gotten to watch almost everybody do their jobs, from watching the designers convert proofs into real websites, to listening and watching an account manager give some clients a walk through of their site, to sitting in on a meeting with a client. The office at Speak is really quiet–again, there's a lot of staring at computers–but I still feel engaged and active. On Wednesday, I got to sit in on two meetings with clients. One was with Cushman & Wakefield, a commercial real estate developer, and the other was with Woodland Tree Services. To cap off my day of meetings, I got to sit in on Comedy Hou– sorry, the sales meeting. That was a fun experience. Thursday, I got to watch the designers do all their cool stuff. I also sat in on a discovery meeting with a church for a ministry site.

Right now I'm just hanging out with the designers again, using a spare computer up in the designers' area. Everybody else is doing important work involving code and Photoshop and other cool stuff... while I'm writing a blog. Probably not the most glamorous of work, but it has to be done. Well, actually, no it doesn't, but that's not the point. The point is that I'm doing something! Hooray! Anyways, my three days at Speak have been really fun, and I'm sad that today's my last day. Oh yeah, don't forget to check out the icon I helped design for a website that will be coming out soon (see below #3)

All that fancy code stuff. I had a cooler shot of code, but they swore me to secrecy...

The client snack bowl. *Hallelujah chorus plays*

I totally got to design an icon for a website that will be coming out soon...

Memphis Fast Forward is a socially, communally, and politically active non-profit. The progress of fundraising, initiatives, and the movement of their agenda all need to be evident on their website, and easily editable for quick changes. Sitewrench provides all of that, giving them ample space for multiple pages and lots of info, as well as being simple to manage and add content. The color scheme of deep blacks and strong photography lend gravity to the organization's goals. The homepage uses jQuery to power all the movement that you see, and the rotating banner of photos loads quickly. We also styled their Blog template to align with the look of the site.

www.memphisfastforward.org

 

Southern Thunder Harley-Davidson, located in Southaven, MS, is a motorcycle wonderland, where you can custom build your Harley, buy all the gear you need, and connect with other bikers. They needed a sales- and product-focused site that would continue to emphasize them as the HD leader in the area. Check out their use of widgets like weather, news, social media, and calendar, right on the home page. The black-and-white color scheme is strong, graphic, and powerful. The static (non-scrolling) header anchors the site, and keeps the pertinent links and info at hand. This site is Flash-free, using jQuery to bring in a lot of life and movement, without ever slowing the site down, and with the added benefit that all movement will translate to the mobile site. Speaking of mobile sites, the mobile templates we created for ST-HD are really great!

www.southernthunderhd.com

If it's been more than a year or two since your website was designed, it's time to start planning for a redesign.

Why? Well, aside from refreshing your image and keeping up with web trends, there are quite a few recent SiteWrench options and features that might be an advantage to you. Here are a few clues that it's time for a redesign:

1. You feel like your site is getting less and less functional. (The truth is, web technologies are becoming more efficient - your website is simply staying the way it was.)

2. There is a lot of dead space on the sides of the screen when your website is displayed, i.e., the page content is much more narrow than the screen or doesn't use all the space. The content may also be left-aligned, leaving you with a big blank area to the right. (These days, most desktops and laptops are formatted more like a widescreen - think about watching a widescreen movie on an older television - remember the black bars at the top and bottom? Same issue.)

3. Your website doesn't display well on a mobile phone browser, or is hard to navigate via touchscreen. (Have you ever checked? Things that look great on a 20" screen may not translate to a 4" one.)

4. The media you have on your site doesn't play well, loads slowly, or is difficult to find. It really doesn't work well on a mobile phone, either. (You may be operating on an outdated player. These days, there are many ways to upgrade that performance. We've also got media archiving, which saves all your media for future searching and viewing!)

5. The images on your site load slowly and are not the size and quality you'd like. (Again, it's about the "player" that displays the photos - that technology advances frequently. We can have you loading large, clear photography quickly and easily.)

Want to know how these changes can affect YOUR site? Read the blog post below. ("How a Redesign can Revolutionize Your Site.")

As always, please feel free to call us with concerns or concerns. We're here for you. 1 901.757.5855.

Ready to Explore a Redesign?

Here are 5 big ways your web presence can be revamped:

(Disclaimer: These are by no means ALL of the amazing things SiteWrench can do nowadays, but they're pretty sweet.)
 

1. Greater functionality and features with SiteWrench

SiteWrench is consistently being updated with new features, updated functions, and improved performance. These are just a few options that are now standard for most of the sites that we work with. 

(click to enlarge photos)

Social media links in a prominent position on every page (or in the footer, like this shot from the Memphis Zoo website) will help you connect to your network on a daily basis. If your organization has an app, why not advertise it in the same section?

Link your Twitter and other feeds (widgets) with your home page so visitors can see what is being said and done, literally, up-to-the-minute! Other feeds could be blog entries, the day's events via Calendar, or news!

An interactive calendar with integrated event registration will involve your web visitors even further. List View makes your events easy to read and sort.

2. Adaptability to Mobile Devices

Mobile sites are characterized by simple, prioritized, convenient navigation, formatted for a small screen and integrated with your smart phone's features

3. Changes in Layout and Design

There are two main recent changes in layout and design that you'll notice:

The most obvious is the migration to centered, widescreen-formatted layouts. Remember when you'd watch a widescreen format movie, and you had black lines at the top and bottom to make it fit on your square TV? That's the same problem you see here. In recent years, designers have been taking advantage of the increased space widescreen monitors offer, as well as centering the content so that it looks correct, no matter what computer is displaying it.

(right: Riverside Baptist Church, 2005 - BEFORE)

 

The second big change, related to design, is the trend of very clean, uncluttered visuals, with fewer textures. You'll see more white space (which isn't always white - just empty), larger photography (see point #5), simpler color schemes, and uncomplicated fonts. Design is always changing, of course, but this design trend is likely to stick around awhile - simply because it looks great on mobile devices, and they're the fastest growing web visitors!

(right: Riverside Baptist Church (in production), 2011 - AFTER)

4. Media Archiving and Better (Easier!) Media Performance

Playing media from your desktop site, mobile site or app gets easier and easier with media archives - visitors will be able to search and play media directly from the site. The archiving allows you to upload an entire series of videos, and keep them available long-term! (Sitewrench users that have been on the system for a while should talk to their account rep about media migration, if they haven't already - it can really simplify things and speed up performance!)

All of this makes it easier for you to upload, as well as easier for users to view.

Your View (Internal):			Website View (External):

5. Treatment of Images

Image display and treatment have made obvious changes in the past few years - particularly now that Flash is on its way out. Previously, images were powered by Flash and had to continually reload to display. This meant that they needed to be small enough to load quickly. Now, with Banner Rotator and other options, you can display as many photos as you want, let them rotate as a gallery, and even use screen-size photography as a background!

Here are some recent photo-centric designs:

www.idlewildchurch.org	www.wolfriver.org
www.memphisinmay.org	www.allurebridals.com

Want to see some before-and-after photos? Click on these blue words.

As always, please feel free to contact us with questions. 1 901.757.5855.

We recently did some research.

In order to determine our ministry-related clients’ fastest-growing audience, we looked at their web traffic statistics. What we found exceeded our expectations. In September 2011, an average of 13% of all ministry-related web traffic represented mobile devices. Compared with September 2010, that’s an increase of 176%! At that rate, mobile traffic should account for 40% of all traffic by late 2013.

Obviously, the fastest-growing web audience is mobile users. What is true for churches and nonprofit organizations was quickly evident for businesses and other entities as well.  If that many of your web visitors are using your site from a mobile device, it’s probably time to adapt to the trend and convert your desktop site for mobile navigation - get a mobile site, in other words.

Mobile site: (def) a mobile translation of your desktop site, formatted for small screens and fingertips, and focused on ease of navigation.

As opposed to desktop sites, mobile sites focus on:

• convenience for on-the-go users
• a more natural vertical display
• simple navigation
• prioritized content
• integration with smart phone features

Translating your desktop site for mobile use isn’t complicated, and won’t represent a lengthy process if you aren’t making changes to your main site. Many organizations choose to make changes to their main site at the same time, however, as they begin to see all of the ways a mobile site can serve their public and increase their business.

What might a mobile site actually DO for your organization? In general, put the most-looked-at information at center stage:

• Engage visitors with a map, showing them the route from their home to your location.
• Keep everyone in the loop with an interactive calendar that includes the capability of event registration.
• Share your thoughts daily with a Blog module that users can read anywhere they go.
• Put your media in their hands. This means audio and video - teaching series, podcasts, product demos, or video introductions to your staff, for example.
• Import your social media feeds. Tweet about news, recommendations, or partner sites.

When we’re talking about mobile sites and mobile interaction with organizations, the topic of mobile apps inevitably comes up, and it’s a valid discussion. “If we’re going to get a mobile site, shouldn’t we just go ahead and get an app instead?” Here’s the thing - an app and a mobile site aren’t the same thing, and don’t serve the same function. They may have similar uses, but they have different users.

• A mobile site serves the needs of those who have a specific need or question and want access on-the-go, or who interact with an organization on an occasional basis. Think of someone who wants to check out a church for the first time, or make a one-time donation to an organization. A mobile site is an Internet site, streamlined.

• An app might be for more regular, even daily, users whose primary goal is simply to be connected. Think of someone who wants to see what’s up with their church friends, interact with an organization they support, or follow a daily blog. An app is not the Internet; it’s software, with web functions.

Ideally, looking at the statistics we mentioned at the beginning of this article, most organizations should have both a mobile site AND an app, to meet their maximum web potential. But if the budget won’t support both, or an app simply isn’t necessary (yet,) a mobile site should definitely be the next step.

Our team here at Speak Creative is ready to help you with your mobile transition, or just answer your questions. Let us know how we can help you adapt to your fastest growing audience!

Connect with us.

-Stacie Martin, (new) Marketing Coordinator

Web designer? HTML+CSS skills? Bring your talents to Speak Creative. 

We're an established company (founded in 1999) of 14 employees. We work with some of the best organizations in Memphis and all over the country. We do pretty much all things interactive from website design and development to mobile apps and consulting. 

We're on the hunt for SEVERAL talented designers/front-end developers to come be a part of our team.? Candidates must have solid design chops. We won't peg a certain number of years experience because talent is talent. However, if you're not confident that you've got game, don't apply.

Another important note: we want team players not rock stars. If you want to be a part of a team and make great things happen, this is the place for you. If you want your name in lights –move on.

Finally, we aren't opposed to telecommuters, however, it's not our first choice. 

If you think you'd be a good fit for our shop, apply here and if we agree, we'll setup an interview. We're looking to hire immediately.

If you have lived, worked or even simply visited downtown Memphis, you have seen One Commerce Square. With an unparalleled renovation recently completed, the building is the self-proclaimed once and future king of Memphis' business addresses. As such, it needed its own space on the web.

Commercial Advisors turned to us to create a unique, socially-driven website for the all-new One Commerce Square. While several features will be added to the website over time, the initial launch captures the crux of One's message - it is a definitive landmark in the soul of Memphis.

As is immediately apparent, the website uses photography as a focal point of the design. Fixed-position navigation is used to keep the logo and navigation options in front of the website visitor even as they scroll through information. The home page takes advantage of two Twitter feeds. The first is a feed directly from @OneCommerceSquare while the other is a feed from @DowntownMemphis - an organization that, as you might imagine, supports the continued development and progress of downtown Memphis.

This connection, along with the messaging and photography of the One Commerce Square website, reinforces the nature of One Commerce Square - it is an integral part of the heart of Memphis. With Memphis landmarks like the Peabody Hotel, Beale Street, FedEx Forum, Autozone Park as well as many others within walking distance of the building, One Commerce Square stands apart as the premier office destination in downtown Memphis.

AND we're back! There was quite a long lay-off of content here on the blog for a while. Apologies all around. We've been quite busy (you should be seeing quite a few updates with completed projects in this space soon), and we're re-thinking our approach to the blog a little bit. We're still squeezing the juice from our mind grapes about the format of the blog (who doesn't love a 30 Rock reference?), but essentially you'll be seeing more regular posts from us on practical subjects that we seem to get a lot of questions about. Of course, if you have something you'd like us to talk about – leave a comment! We'll be happy to.

Today's topic might be an eye-roller for some of you. Trust me, if you're a long-time Twitterphile, today's advice will probably be old-hat. However, we get a surprising number of clients ask us about what they should be doing on Twitter (or with social media in general), so Megan Denney and I put together a simple list of questions to consider before jumping in feet-first on Twitter. Any thoughts or comments? Did we miss something? Let us know!

1. What are your competitors doing on Twitter?

You don't have to spend a lot of time poring over your competition's every tweet and reply, but you should try to get a sense of the voices that are already out in the Twitterverse. Looking at your competition can give you good pointers on topics you could be talking about, or you might see a gap where your expertise in the market hasn't really been adequately communicated.

You might be in a market where very few of your competitors are on Twitter, and you might wonder (rightly!) if you should even be using Twitter. Take plumbers for example. It's pretty weird to tell a plumber he or she should be on Twitter. The inevitable "what am I going to tweet about?" question comes up (see #3 below). It's a totally legitimate question to ask. You'll just have to keep reading to find the answer...

2. Who's the Chief Twit (Twitterer? Tweeter?)

We struggled with the nomenclature for the person primarily responsible for tweeting. Regardless of the title, you should consider who that person will be. One of the most common things I hear is "we've got a group of folks who are going to tweet whenever they have time." WRONG. You know who ends up tweeting in that scenario? No one. Tweeting is not a highly time-consuming activity, but it does require folks to go outside of their normal workflow. By all means, let as many folks tweet from your account as you'd like, but be sure you have someone who is responsible for the day-to-day content. You're much more likely to produce consistent, personality-laden content when you have someone who has taken over the role of Chief Twit.

3. What will you tweet about?

The answer is different for everyone when considering this question, but the point is that you better have a gameplan for how you are going to interact with your followers. You might tweet about your daily specials. You might tweet about products you're producing. Whatever it is that you'll primarily be talking about, take the time to think it out beforehand. You don't have to plan every tweet, but you should have a general idea of some of the things you can say from one day to the next.

This is where we pick back up with our plumber. He has no idea what he should tweet about. Here's what I might suggest – take pictures... lots of gross clogged-drain, flooded basement, burst-pipe pictures. "You'll never believe what I just found in this drain! [Picture]" That's the kind of content that gets responses from followers (especially if he follows the tweet up with an immaculately clean "after" shot). Sure, it's not for everyone, but he'll get retweeted and recommended by the folks that do follow him. People on Twitter tend to love personality and humor. Keep that in mind.

4. Can you commit to tweeting at least once a day?

This is a question where you just have to be honest with yourself. Can you commit to tweeting on a regular basis? There's nothing magical about the once a day number. In fact, I would say it's the bare minimum – you'll hopefully be tweeting more regularly than once a day. Tweeting isn't hard to do, but it can be hard to make yourself take the time to do it. If you are over-committed in other areas of work and won't be able to pay attention, why add needless stress? Yes, you could probably benefit from being on Twitter, but it's better to just leave it alone for a while than sully your brand with half-hearted efforts at maintaining your presence on Twitter.

5. What is your plan for responding to tweets?

This is the bottom line of any social media – it's meant to be social. You can use social media as your sandwich board, but it's so much more than that. If you are posting interesting content, you'll inevitably begin to acquire followers (don't be stressed if this starts off as a trickle rather than a flood). Once you get a critical mass of followers, you're likely to have folks who want to start conversations with you. They have questions or ideas. Will you respond? Twitter is now equipped with email notifications, so you don't have any excuse for not seeing conversations as they happen. Be ready for it! I try to make a habit of responding as quickly as possible on Twitter (usually 15 minutes or less). Engage with your audience! It's the ultimate goal of social media and is the fastest way to build up your brand in the eyes of your followers.