We are a society of smartphone users. Smartphone penetration is at 44% in the USA, 51% in the UK and 54% in Australia, according to Google. Our smartphones mean we can check our email on the move, browse the web and access social networks. Just how mobile are we? I’ll let the statistics do the talking:
- Almost 30% of searches on Google are performed on mobile devices
- Similarly, well over 20% of traffic to typical websites now originates from a mobile device
- 30% of traffic to Youtube is from a mobile device
- Over half of Twitter’s traffic is mobile
The web audience (and this include’s your blog’s audience) is browsing on the go. They’re using social networks, consuming web content, watching videos and even sharing content on the move. And as our blogs’ readers become increasingly engaged with content while they’re on the move, so too must we ensure that our content remains easy to consume and share. However, it’s not just your audience that’s finding demands on their time growing. You are probably finding you’re busier and busier as well, which means making use of time when you’re out and about, taking advantage of that 30 minute train commute on your way to work in the morning. You can use your smartphone to help you make the most of your time and facilitate out and about blogging. As well as many standard smartphone features, there are also many apps that work for bloggers. Here are five such examples for iPhone users:
1. WordPress
Freely available app for iPhones and iPads
The official WordPress app is completely free. If, like most blogs, yours is WordPress, then this is the app for you. You can quickly and easily update your blog posts, page content, moderate comments and add new content on the move. An absolute must for any mobile WordPress users to make better use of your commuting time, in particular. WordPress remains the most popular blogging platform. In fact, figures released last week suggest that 20-25% of all new websites published use the platform.
2. Evernote
Evernote for iOS
Evernote lets you capture and save anything on the move. From audio files, to web pages, videos and notes, you can store it all in Evernote. Even better? You can sync it with a version of Evernote on your laptop too. So if you get a flash of inspiration when you’re out and about, you can store it and save it for use later on in a blog post! Evernote’s brilliant for multimedia note taking and the free version includes pretty much everything you’d need!
3. Analytics Pro
Analytics Pro for iPhone
Analytics pro is a paid app ($5.99) but it’s well worth it. Unfortunately for iPhone users, the mobile version of Google Analytics is (at present) only available for Android devices and the web based version really doesn’t operate well on a mobile device at all. So for those wanting on the move Analytics data, this is what you need. If, like me, you’re a blogger who schedules posts for various times of the day that you can’t always be at your computer, you’ll like the ability to check your Analytics on the move. And in order to do that, you’ll want this app in your life.
4. CoveritLive for iPhone
CoveritLive for iPhone
If you’re at an event, you might be live blogging. Cover it Live is a great way to live blog any event and there’s now a mobile application. You can live blog from the app and embed it on your own blog. Quick and easy! I’ve personally always found that live blogging is a great way to pull traffic into a website but I have never found it particularly easy (unless you put your updates on Twitter as opposed to your own website) until I started using this app.
5. Blogger for iPhone
Blogger for iPhone
If you don’t use WordPress for your blog then there’s a decent chance that Google’s Blogger is your platform. Well, Google haven’t left you in the dark. Your platform is also iPhone ready!
Blogging on the Move – Is it Feasible?
Blogging on the go with a Smartphone isn’t that easy, to be completely honest. If, like me, you’re something of a speed typist on a laptop, it can be frustrating to try and type on a smartphone touch screen. But blogging on the move is feasible. With improving voice dictation features, for example, it’s getting easier to input text. For video bloggers, improving cameras mean it’s now as easy as it’s ever been to get your video posts live wherever you are using just your smartphone. One thing’s for sure, though, as we become ever more dependant upon our beloved smartphones, we’ll be doing more of our every day tasks (blogging included) on the move using smartphones and tablets.
Digital Marketing Manager at Tecmark, Apple-obsessive, Disney loving bad joke teller. Stacey blogs a lot at Blogsession and Listing Things.
Article by Stacey Cavanagh
Stacey has written 1 articles .
You can follow BloggersPassion on Twitter and Facebook here.
BloggersPassion was started on Jan 01, 2010 on the world’s most awesome blogging platform- WordPress. This blog was started to share blogging tips and for helping you become a successful full time blogger. Blogging is an art and the more you do it, the more you perfect you become.
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
Nice work, Stacey. My favorite app in my smartphone is Evernote. I can’t imagine how myself is without it. Since I always forget things.
About Wordpress app, it is quite inconvenient for us to write or handle something, just to approve or read the comments, I think so.