The following is a guest post from an online marketing expert who preferred to remain anonymous.
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If you’re reading this online, then chances are that you’ve already noticed some major yet subtle changes in the online world.
At Google.
For those of us conducting any kind of online search in our web browser address bar, we’ll have noticed that the little letter ‘G’ on a web browser tab looks different now (see at right).
Well you’re not in the wrong place. This is still Google. Its just that Google looks different.
For the first time since 1999 (yes, Google is that old!), the leader in online everything has changed the way it presents itself to the world. That fact alone should indicate that this shouldn’t be taken lightly.
So what has led to Google’s logo redesign (see below)? And what lessons can the online world generally, and the online trading world specifically take from what Google is doing?
We believe that the message here is very simple.
Other than making its logo look cleaner and more modern (although we’re not really sure what that means), there are two main reasons Google has changed its logo and ubiquitous Home Page:
- smaller screens
- lower bandwidth
We all understand that more and more of the Internet is being viewed via smaller and smaller screens. The percentage of mobile hits keeps rising in the overall picture. And knowing this, Google has redesigned its logo to use a more rounded and simple font (mainly) because it simply looks better on most smaller screens.
The second issue – lower bandwidth – comes hand-in-hand with smaller screens but may be less obvious. While we are all used to bandwidth accessibility continually increasing, whether wired at home/work, or as 2G becomes 3G becomes 4G… in the wireless world, the more mobile world demands lower bandwidth solutions. Especially as the Internet expands to include users in more regions of the globe and in third world countries.
Google’s new logo comes in at only 305 bytes, compared to the existing logo at about 14,000 bytes.
The lower-bandwidth issue is also behind Google’s decision to stop the automatic play of Flash ads in its Google Chrome browser effective September 1.
Google’s new CEO Sundar Pichai has a stated goal to bring Google (and web access, of course) to those parts of the globe that don’t already have it. And most of those places will have bandwidth limitations.
So again, what lessons are there to learn for Forex brokers?
Well first, the simple message of the increasing importance of mobile. If Google is willing to go as far as to redesign the world’s most successful and popular website to accommodate mobile, then shouldn’t you? If you’re an online broker and your website is not just mobile friendly but also welcoming in an easy and intuitive way to mobile visitors – if it isn’t designed specifically to capture mobile visitors – then you’ll probably very soon be left behind as Google and the world moves forward.
If you’re not investing in your mobile app, then you’ll be left behind.
And lesson #2 is to not ignore the issue of bandwidth. Your (mobile) site must load quickly and easily, and be pleasing to the eye as seen on a smaller screen.