technology sector online ireland 2014 competitive analysis

Enhance Research into Website Performance for Technology Sector Companies in IrelandApril- May 2014 – Tel: 01 851 2800

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Technology Sector in Ireland

http://www.enhance.ie/leak-detection/



IntroductionThis document outlines research conducted by the enhance.ie team into website performance in the technology sector in Ireland.

A sample set of 28 business websites were selected, majority of sites selected were ranked on the top 1000 companies, listed on the Irish Times, Business Technology section http://www.top1000.ie/industries/technology-business .

Research was based upon a number of criteria indicated below. The research was carried out between 23rd

and 30th of April 2014.

Evaluative Criteria:

Quality of Content – How easy is it to find information throughout the website based upon key navigation & design principles

Usability – User journey and relative number of steps required to complete use-cases

Quality of Visual Design – Layout, colour scheme, typography, text density, quality of photography, etc

Responsiveness – Ease of use on multiple device & screen sizes such as smartphones and tablets

Level of Social Media Integration – Simple button links, sharing, social bookmarking buttons, content feeds, etc…

Google Analytics – Do the sites have Google Analytics?




Industry Findings Visual Snapshot

79% of Websites in your sector Are not

mobile effective

Social Media Platform Use In The Sector

37%

32%Have Zero

Social Media Presence

60% 51% 58% 25%




Research Findings

To conduct the research across the sample set consistently we considered a number of principles & best practices based upon our extensive experience in web technologies & communications.

These considerations are detailed in the following slides, along with a general description of the criteria themselves.

Research Analysis of theTechnology sector WebsitesAccording to Performance

CriteriaWe surveyed a sample of 28 companies within the sector

The following results show the key areas where the Technology Sector can make improvements and gain competitive advantage within their sector.

Analysis carried out between 5th and 21st April 2014

Criteria Percentage & StatsGood

Quality/YesMedium Quality

Poor Quality/No

Content 7% 75% 18%

Usability 21% 58% 21%

Visual Design 21% 25% 54%

Responsive Design 21% 0% 79%

Social Media 68% 0% 32%

Analytics 68% 0% 32%




ContentEssentially, content is the art of communicating with your customers and prospects without selling to them. Rather than pushing your products or services by interrupting them, your aim is to attract, acquire, and engage a clearly defined and understood target audience that will be highly likely to turn into a profitable consumer interaction, you deliver information that helps them in some way. Content marketing is built on the faith that if you provide ongoing valuable information to potential customers, they will ultimately reward you with their business and loyalty.

Industry Online Content Quality Percentage ratings:

Effective Content Principles:

Ask For Action

Be Helpful

Don’t be Biased(Earn Trust)

Tell a Story

Reflect Enthusiasm & Passion

Source Content from Within

Think as a Client

People learn Differently (Video, Images, Text)

Bad, 18.0%

Medium, 75.0%Good, 7.0%

0.0% 10.0% 20.0% 30.0% 40.0% 50.0% 60.0% 70.0% 80.0%




User ExperienceUser experience (UX) is how a person feels when interfacing with a system. The system could be a website, a web app or desktop software and, in modern contexts, is generally represented by some form of human-computer interaction (HCI). Design features such as ease of use, perception of the value of the system, utility, efficiency in performing tasks are all key in user experience.

Effective Content Principles:

Make It Responsive

Design experiences not features

Keep It Simple

Design For Common Problems

Make It a Pleasure to use

Nail The Basics

Make It a Pleasure to see

User Experience Quality Percentage:

Poor, 21.0%

Medium, 58.0%

Good, 21.0%

0.0% 10.0% 20.0% 30.0% 40.0% 50.0% 60.0% 70.0%




Visual Design

People make instant conclusions. It will take one tenth of a second to form a first impression about a person, and websites are no different. It takes around 50 milliseconds for users to form an opinion about your website that determines whether they like your site or not, whether they’ll stay or leave.

First impressions

are 94% design

related

Website Sectors Visual Design Ratings:

Bad, 54.0%

Medium, 25.0%

Good, 21.0%

0.0% 10.0% 20.0% 30.0% 40.0% 50.0% 60.0%




The Science of Online Persuasion 366%

CONVERSIONBOOST!

Source The web psychologist LTD 2014




Responsive Design

If built with responsive design techniques, the design & layout of a webpage will respond to the screen size of the user. For example when a user switches from their desktop computer to their iPhone the website would automatically change to allow for the different resolution. Images would resize, the navigation may change and blocks of text wrap under each other. In other words the website would respond to the users choice of device, thus eliminating the need for other device specific design and development.

When a website responds to the device it is loaded on.




Why use Responsive Design?

Have you ever pulled up a link on your phone while you’re out

and about, only to end up emailing it to yourself to look at later

on a bigger screen, or even worst dismissing the site completely

because its non-effective on your mobile device?

69% of people have a better opinion of businesses & brands when they offer a good

mobile experience. -Enhance Research

Percentage of Responsive websites within the

sector :

21%

79%

Yes No




Social Media Integration

There is no denying the influence and presence of social media. Through real-time online connections with existing and potential customers, a company can convey information regarding its brand, product and service, but at the same time mismanagement can lead to gloomy results and wasted money. Exploiting this tool is now a core goal for over 86% of businesses. Whether you are B2B or B2C focused the key benefits and objectives of social media as a communication and marketing tool are increasing exposure and increasing traffic.

However AUDIENCE ACTIVATION is key

Be strategic. It’s about engagement & building

relationships over time.

Attract Engage Bond

Investing time and talent into social integration

can equal…..

Social Media presence within the sector :

68%

32%

Yes No




AnalyticsMeasuring results is the key to a successful web marketing strategy and tools like Google Analytics make it possible to see exactly how people visitors are finding your website and what they are doing when they are on it. For generic information on visitor numbers, pages views, bounce rate of web pages, etc, Google analytics can be used to gather and extract a wealth of information. Google Analytics can be very useful for increasing conversion rates. We can figure out what areas website users are consistently clicking on and try to integrate action buttons into these areas.

workTo measure the right things

Follower count is easy to measure, but

It doesn’t mean anything

The 3 metrics that you should measure?

Conversation Amplification Applause

Google Analytics presence within the sector :

68%

32%

Yes No




Building a website is only one piece of your overall online strategy

Here at Enhance we look at the bigger picture. We pride ourselves on building lasting relationships with our clients by exploring and developing every element of the online strategy. Below is a visual map representation of our philosophy and commitment to the online world.

Enhance.ie – Online Strategy

As you can see we realise that an online presence is so much more than a website or Twitter page, it is made up of an array of different platforms, channels and mediums, which can add value to the overall business strategy now and in the future.

As new online spaces open up our map grows to encompass these new areas.




Backgound on enhance.ie

Enhance.ie is a well established web design agency, offering the full range of web development services. The company was set up in Swords, North County Dublin in December 1996. From those early days, Enhance expanded into designing web sites and implementing online strategies. In fact we were one of the first digital media businesses in Ireland to recognise the speed at which the offline world is integrating into the online world and visa versa.

We are ranked number 1 on google.ie for a range of competitive terms including “web design”. This speaks volumes about our understanding and knowledge of search engine optimisation (SEO) as “web design” is a highly competitive search term.

We currently have a staff of 16 full time and 4 part time employees across a range of disciplines, each member of our team adds value to our client projects.

General Information

Business Name Enhance Multimedia Ltd

Address Unit 32C, Rosemount Drive, Rosemount Business Park,Blanchardstown, Dublin 15.

Telephone 01 – 8512800

Email [email protected]

Website www.enhance.ie

Point of contact Joe Lancaster– [email protected]
