Last month Google changed the way YouTube videos are ranked in the SERP to better match locally created videos to user locations. We're not sure if this new feature will work on a country level, state level, or local town level, but it's enough for us to revisit the YouTube topic and remind you of some things you can be doing to attract search engine attention.
The easiest videos to create are short, simple presentations of jewelry between 15 to 60 seconds in length. Someone could model the jewelry while a narrator (you or the model) describes what it is; or you can make it real simple and hold the jewelry up to the camera.
The last time we suggested short videos like this, we recommended the Cisco Flipcam, but now we're recommending to just use your Android or iPhone. Both smartphones can record simple videos and also ma... VIEW FULL GOLD NUGGET
In yesterday's Daily Golden Nugget we revealed our findings that 19.9% of visitor traffic to jewelry websites is now using an iPhone, iPad, or Android. The rising popularity of the mobile web is undeniable.
We want to share some additional statistics regarding browser usage. Please note that these statistics are for non-mobile jewelry websites.
These are the average number of website pages consumers look at using these browsers:
These numbers show us that the tolerance level for mobile usage is already pretty high. Users are willing to visit at least 3 pages of a non-mobile website using a mobile device.
Now let's look at the amount of time (in minutes) these same users are willing to ... VIEW FULL GOLD NUGGET
Every so often we like to take a broad look at all the various browsers customers are using to visit jewelry websites. Since the jWAG team also manages a web server farm of hundreds of jewelry websites, it's easy to run a general report and see what's happening.
The last time we checked up on web browser usage was September 12, 2011. Here's our finding from back then.
The percentage shown represents the customer usage of that web browser.
48.7% Internet Explorer 21.4% Firefox 17.3% Safari 12.4% Chrome 0.3% Opera
As of February 22, 2012, these are the new browser usage percentages for customers visiting jewelry websites:
38.5% Internet Explorer 26.3% Safari 14.7% Firefox 12.1% Chrome 5.8% Android Browser 0.5% Opera 0.1% BlackBerry9700
Happy Anniversary to the Daily Golden Nugget! Any of you jewelers out there want to send us an anniversary gift?
Our first Nugget covered a very advanced topic that most of you hadn't heard of at the time: QR Codes
Today we're going to step into another new realm with an idea that you probably haven't thought of before: Tablets in your store.
The iPad revolutionized mobile technology in early 2010 and since then hundreds of companies have come out with their own tablets, many using the Google Android OS.
During our August 2010 Live Event 2 web broadcast we demonstrated how you could use an iPad as a sales tool in your store. At the time, we suggested using it for showcase displays, to display messages at your repair take-in counter, and the advanced idea to use it for your Lady's Night events where you could ... VIEW FULL GOLD NUGGET
As I poke around Google+ I see hints of future features that will eventually merge the online digital world together. So many obvious features relate to white collar jobs. However, there is nothing yet for retail businesses specifically, like useful tools that retail jewelers can use to talk to jewelry customers.
Yesterday, one of the Google+ engineers requested feedback on how the videoconferencing Hangout could be used for business. Within (literally) minutes there were 303 responses! However, not a single one related to retail businesses.
As of today, I will predict your vendors using the video Hangouts to talk to you; but I still don't see a good use for video conversation between you and your customers. If the video quality were better I could argue the idea of showing jewelry, but honestly the video quality sucks ... VIEW FULL GOLD NUGGET
Universal search results pages contain organic web page listings, product information, Wikipedia information, local businesses and video. Recent additions also include bookmarks from friends, tweets and other social interactions.
Let's talk about video.
Both Google and Bing will include videos from sources including YouTube, eHow and TED, DailyMotion, MSN, Tudou (TF1), Allocine, MySpace, 5min, VideoJug, MTV, and perhaps other sources. However, it's obvious that YouTube is the most popular video website right now.
Video acts as a magnet to your product or service. You can use video to illustrate your specific talents and provide customer education. It also creates a bond between you and your customers that is solidified when they meet you in person or talk to you on the telephone for the first time.
Smart cell phones are everywhere. The Android is more and more popular, the iPhone is expanding its user base now that Verizon sells it, and somehow, the BlackBerry is still strongly accepted by the corporate world.
comScore.com released the 2010 mobile report on February 14, 2011 where they reported that 27% of cell phones are of the smartphone variety and 29% of smartphone users have unlimited data plans.
For you, the jewelry website owner, you seriously need to consider how your website will react when a mobile device visits it. You might spend $1000 developing a simple HTML website or $3000 for a simple Flash website, and they both may look great on a computer. But what about the mobile device?
As you consider your future website design and functionality, you need to give some ser... VIEW FULL GOLD NUGGET
We're not going to talk about anything new today. Instead, we wanted to share industry statistics and our own findings for this 2010 holiday season. Everything reported is for online sales or statistics.
These statistics were reported from comScore.com Thanksgiving Day (Nov. 25) $407M, up 28% Black Friday (Nov. 26) $648M, up 9% Cyber Monday (Nov. 29) $1,028M (that's a Billion!) 16% Green Monday (Dec. 13) $954, up 12% Free Shipping Day (Dec. 17) $942M, up 61%
The week of December 17 (Free Shipping Day) saw 52.7% of online transactions with free shipping. comScore also reported that there was a greater trend for online buyers to wait until Free Shipping Day before making the final sale. This is a clear indication that free shipping is a deal winner when selling online.VIEW FULL GOLD NUGGET
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