Mobile Internet has always been a hot topic discussed in the industry. In view of the development of hardware equipment and 3G networks, a new market has appeared in front of many entrepreneurs. How are they excitedly waiting and preparing for the arrival of opportunities? How cautiously are they? , step by step to prevent ubiquitous risks? Communication is the process of reducing risks, looking for opportunities, expanding horizons and capturing the future, so the topic of 3G is becoming more and more popular. If there is a product that can change the pattern of the traditional Internet, then this product is undoubtedly 3G technology (third generation mobile communication technology).
Analysys Think Tank released the "Quarterly Monitoring of China's Mobile Terminal Market in the First Quarter of 2010" in May. The total domestic mobile phone sales in the first quarter of this year reached 55.026 million units. Among them, 3G mobile phone sales totaled 6.113 million units, an increase of 65.97% month-on-month. From the data point of view, the 3G market is growing rapidly. Everyone knows that the 3G market is a piece of fat. Everyone is yearning for it. Is there enough space here to accommodate everyone?
During the several Internet reforms and transformations, several giant companies that survived each time were born, such as Tencent, Alibaba, Baidu, Sina, Sohu, NetEase, Shanda, and Tianya Maopu Community. Each change brought about a huge opportunity. Kai-Fu Lee has stated that there are currently 9 investment projects in the Innovation Factory, 7 of which are in mobile communications. There is no doubt that the future 3G market is the next opportunity, and it is huge and unpredictable. However, when facing a market that everyone knows, the competition will be extremely fierce. If you want to succeed, you must step over countless corpses and face it. Go in the difficult direction.
After briefly describing the prospects of 3G, let me briefly talk about my thoughts on the construction and positioning of WAP websites in the 3G era.
1. Targeting the crowd
Compared with traditional mobile communication technology (2G), 3G greatly surpasses the former in terms of speed. The theoretical speed of 3G wireless network can reach 2.8M at the low end and even 7.2M at the high end, which means that it is faster than most people's homes. Broadband is much faster. What's more, considering the size of the phone screen and the amount of data required to be received, it can be said to be lightning speed.
Due to China's vast territory, 3G network coverage is very low and is currently deployed in major cities. In fixed coverage areas, our utilization rate of 3G networks is also low. In addition, the hardware conditions of our country's communication providers cannot keep up with those of foreign countries. These three reasons result in the high fees required for 3G communications, which discourages ordinary users. Currently, charges vary in different regions, but prices in all domestic regions (except Hong Kong and Taiwan) are much higher than people's psychological expectations.
In fact, judging from the price threshold, we have already divided the target groups for which we want to build the website. With a monthly rent of nearly 100 yuan, most of the people who are willing to spend on 3G are those who "have a high demand for network speed" and are "not financially tight". To win the first 3G market, we must first capture the hearts and minds of these users.
So who are these people?
Judging from the "2010 Mobile Phone Experience White Paper" released by 3G Portal, students and white-collar users account for the majority.
To serve students and white-collar workers, we need to understand what they need?
Students have to study for exams, and white-collar workers have to work to make a living. After high-intensity mental exertion, you will be physically and mentally exhausted. What they need at this time is rest and relaxation, and the mobile Internet is providing them with this good platform.
On their way to school or work, while riding in the car, or waiting for someone, this is a good time to use the mobile Internet.
In addition to leisure, it can also provide and integrate some useful information they need. Let their work and learning be attached to their own website.
User needs cannot be explained in a few words. Even if it is designed for a unified object, each website has different content and different targeting points. The most important thing is to provide various needs according to the websites you create, and then analyze user behavior to modify your positioning. How to improve users' stickiness to your website and how to create an excellent profit model combined with the website are all a big question.
2. The pros and cons of various websites on 3G
After knowing the people we are targeting, we still need to think about, what can we use 3G for? What can we do that is different from 2G? What kind of 3G model can break through the walls of the current 2G network?
At present, it is more focused on 3G networks. In summary, there are the following projects. I will discuss these projects one by one.
Novel Reading Network. Reading novels on mobile phones is a very common behavior. People who like to read online novels usually use mobile phones to read them when it is inconvenient to use a computer. It is undeniable that this is also a huge market. But I personally think that there are currently so many mobile novel websites that it is very difficult to break through. Others already have a user base. If they try to homogenize them, they will just jump into the fire pit.
video chat. Video chat is a much-discussed project at present. Judging from the speed of 3G, it is not a problem to implement a high-definition mobile video chat. First of all, how to make money is a difficult point. Furthermore, I personally think that video chat is not in line with Chinese people’s habits. I may use it once or twice just to try it out. Under the influence of thousands of years of Confucian culture, Chinese people's emotional communication is more restrained compared to Europe and the United States. Most people (personally think) do not like such direct communication with face to face. If you go in the direction of video chat If so, it shouldn't be flattering. People who often see QQ video chat on the computer platform, my personal explanation is that there is still a certain distance between the person and the camera, and this distance is more acceptable.
Online services (online movies, mobile navigation, online TV, online games, etc.). Online services can be said to be the biggest advantage of 3G over 2G. They use high-speed transmission networks to form capabilities that a 2G website cannot have. For example, in online games, due to the high speed of 3G, client-side online games can basically be eliminated. Web games will become mainstream and can achieve very smooth effects that are not inferior to those on the client side. I think this category will be the mainstream development of 3G networks in the future.
Download stations (games, software, music, pictures), in terms of downloading, 3G has shown its own advantages in this aspect. Different mobile phones have different compatible software and games, and users have many software and games. These software and games make it more convenient and interesting for people to use mobile phones, and the practicality and usability of mobile phones have also been improved. From the perspective of people's needs, this is an ongoing project with high demand. It can develop in the long run. If you want to build a download site, it is enough to concentrate on one aspect and create a brand. As the 3G market continues to expand rapidly, seizing the leading market is the most important implementation. In terms of reputation, user communication and recommendations are the best promotion in the future.
Local information portal. Collect local information to users, such as housing information, surrounding information, entertainment information, etc. Extremely high usability and operability. Just like today's platform Internet local portals are also a good development, and the combination of the two can achieve good results.
Vertical information website. Compared with local portals, it is also a good project. Not much to say.
Social Network Site (SNS). The threshold for social networking sites is extremely high, so we will hardly discuss it here. I think the best model is to combine SNS with one of the above feasible points. For example, an online theater website can design some user interaction elements. These elements should not be too many because it is not a pure SNS website like Renren.com and Kaixin.com. Modest design is enough. It allows movie lovers to share their experiences and experiences about movies, and just have something to talk about in movies. These designs allow users to form relevant viscosity themselves, which is helpful for the website’s image and reputation.
e-commerce. 2G cannot develop e-commerce due to picture introduction and other reasons. Due to the emergence of 3G, e-commerce can also log into the mobile Internet platform. Mobile Internet e-commerce has not been developed yet, but from a development perspective, the prospects are very promising. However, the threshold for e-commerce is also very high, so you need to be cautious when entering the industry.
3. Some details that need to be paid attention to when building a 3G website
1. User segmentation
The market you choose determines the content of your website. Keeping up with the market is the last word.
2. User experience.
The handheld form of mobile phones determines the habits of mobile phone users. When building a website, you need to pay great attention to user experience design. Each key symbol will have a big impact. On a mobile phone screen, users look from top to bottom. The most important information should be placed in the most conspicuous place, the web page should be arranged reasonably, and irrelevant information should be discarded.
3. UI design
There are countless mobile phone models, and the corresponding interface must be set up for popular models.
4. 3G speed
The characteristic of 2G websites is that they are simple, and most of them are plain text except for the website's LOGO. 3G is famous for its speed. Users will not care about the traffic and try to make the interface simple and beautiful. Of course, too many picture elements will make people think it is complicated and unpleasant.
4. Some thoughts
Personally, I think it is more difficult for grassroots entrepreneurs to establish a niche in 3G. The threshold of 3G is obviously higher than that of platform Internet (traditional Internet). The high cost is of course not the production cost, but the promotion cost.
In the traditional Internet, there are various grassroots promotion resources, such as search engine optimization, major portal promotion, Q group Weibo promotion, mass mailing, soft article hype, etc. On the mobile Internet, these seemingly feasible promotion methods are actually not feasible. First of all, there is no well-known search engine for mobile phone users. Furthermore, the characteristics of mobile phone users have rejected many promotion methods. Mobile phone users will not easily click on a link out of curiosity on the mobile Internet. They will only visit the websites they need.
Many people believe that 3G is the way to go, and the faster the better, but I personally don’t think this is necessarily the case.
Although 3G has a very broad prospect, the market is also developing quite rapidly. Except for some websites that need to quickly occupy the market (websites that need to be built on the application of 3G characteristics), I personally think that there is no need to rush into this market all at once.
Mobile Internet and platform Internet have something in common. If I already have a good foundation in platform Internet, will I suffer a big loss because I enter the 3G market late? Moreover, if I enter the 3G market rashly, I will spend all my energy on 3G. , then the construction of that part of the platform will definitely not be taken into account. Will the 3G station be effective? But this is all an issue of opportunity cost. Just think about it.
In response to this problem, I personally believe that if grassroots entrepreneurs want to make achievements on the mobile Internet, they must develop the Internet on the platform, and then extend it to the mobile Internet with a user base. This is a very good way.
The personal space of the author Spai Taoqi. This article only represents the author's views and has nothing to do with the position of the webmaster network.