I spend a lot of time looking at AAR’s stats. According to Google Analytics, 60% of AAR readers access the site via their phones and/or other devices. When users visit the site, the vast majority arrive there on the Home page. Next most popular are the Power Search, Author Profiles, New Reviews, and Steals and Deals pages. On an average day, we have around two thousands visitors who average three and half minutes a visit.
I’m looking at all of these numbers because this fall, AAR is rolling out a new version of the site. Most of the changes will be on the back end–the software the current site uses has become cumbersome and limiting–but some readers will see. I’m excited about the things we’re adding–my favorite is a personalized Bookshelf where readers can keep lists of book and reviews they want to track. The new Home page as well as a new search feature will make the site easier to navigate.
Once the new website is rolled out, next up will be working on making our mobile site better. To that end, I’m curious how you use AAR. Is it different on your phone than on your desktop? What works the best for you? What frustrates you? And thanks, your feedback is invaluable!
Wow! Can’t wait to see what you have in store for us!
I don’t know how much help I will be with input for you. I’ve never tracked my use by device but I’d guess less than 10% of my time here is from my phone. I’m old school about my technology use in general; and spend far more time at AAR from my PC. I prefer to read, comment, and purchase with a large screen and keyboard to hand.
I only use my phone to access the site if my PC is not at hand and I need to look up something specific. To that end, the power search box front and center (or within one or two scrolls) of opening the site/app would be nice. Also, a shorter menu structure on the home page would make getting to the right area of the site faster. For example, only the latest review on the landing page, not the latest four reviews as is on the full site. Does that make sense?
I come near daily to look at reviews. Sometimes a few times.
Then I look at Comments box below, and finally at the blogs.
I mostly come on iPad – I prefer to have things on one page, and so iPad is better because I get a view of most things in one quick scroll – same as on laptop.
This way, I can just briefly see if I there is something new, or whether am interested in something, and come back again later if I want to, and save time.
So I like seeing the four last reviews, the blog and the first comments, as is. It works well for me.
The right hand column with the offers is nice, I just glance at it for something I did not want to buy at full price – but often, these deals do not happen on amazon.de where I buy, so it is not SOOO important for me.
I only use the phone if I have no other option, so the look on the phone is less important to me – for this, I defer to phone users.
I’m not interested in how the site looks on a phone either. While I do have a smart phone, I have old eyes and do not like reading on the smaller screen unless I’m out of the house and have no other options. I use my iPad at home and when I go on vacation. I also may use my lap top, but the majority of my browsing, email, FB, etc., these days is on a tablet. I have a morning routine where I check my email and a handful of web sites (AAR included) daily while I am enjoying breakfast and before I go out for the day. I may also visit AAR at other times of the day, but never on my phone.
I like to see what the new reviews are and sometimes I check out the blogs. I do utilize the Power Search feature, although probably not daily, and I fully appreciate the ability to look up older reviews of books and authors that may be new to me.
I generally use my phone to access the site. The only difference I notice is when I view the site on my laptop, I get a full-screen shot at a glance rather than having to scroll down, and the levels of comments & responses are more clearly delineated.
All my web activity is through a desktop PC.
I visit AAR to check for new reviews and blog and Agora threads, at least once a day and often both morning and evening. I only rarely use the search, when someone new to me with older releases comes to my attention.
I only access the site with my laptop. I’m not particularly interested in having it on my phone or tablet. My laptop goes with me when I travel, so I’m rarely without access to it. I always look at the reviews, check comments, and look at the blog posts. I’ll scan the Steals and Deals and Agora if something is new. I use the power search occasionally and I do like that feature a lot. I visit at least once a day, often twice, especially if I’ve commented on something.
I typically visit the site 1-2 times a day. I don’t have a tablet and my main daily viewing is on my laptop, usually in the evening after dinner. I start on the home page and look at the new reviews, blog, books on sale, and reader comments (basically just work my way down from the top). I rarely use the search feature but appreciate it when I do. I look at the forums about once a week. I may also look at the site on my phone during the daytime. This is primarily to follow up on reader comments or look at new reviews. I do find the formatting on the phone makes it hard to follow reader comment threads (to know what comment is in response to what comment above it). I prefer to look at the website on my laptop in case I wish to make comments, which I find easier to type on the laptop.
I really appreciate the website and the work you all do to keep it up and running. Thank you!
When I access the site on my phone (Android – Firefox) the New Reviews page (this is always my favorite page to check) gets formatted a little wonky and it will never let me go to page 2 of new reviews. I prefer All About Romance on my browser.
I’m glad to hear about the changes. I usually access the site through Twitter when I see reviews or topics that interest me. But sometimes the text doesn’t display properly on the phone screen and I can’t read the whole review, so hopefully that will get fixed.
I use my laptop 90% of the time and my phone the other 10%. I just like reading on a bigger screen.
Desktop PC for me – I don’t remember ever looking at AAR on my phone. I visit every/every other day to check for new reviews and blog posts. I think the new search function is great, but I don’t look up older reviews all that often. (When I first started reading romance novels and didn’t know where to begin, I searched the old reviews a LOT.)
I visit the site on my laptop almost exclusively. I use the Reviews most heavily, but I do enjoy reading the blogs. I will occasionlly check out the Steals and Deals.
I use the site about 90% on my computer and 10% on my iPad. I go straight for the new reviews and then I check the blog posts. I look forward to seeing the new site once it launches!
I usually visit AAR once a day as part of my after dinner relaxation. I mostly use a laptop, rarely my phone because, as several others have said, the site isn’t all that easy to read or navigate on the phone. I read the new reviews to find books I want to read, sometimes use the Power Search (particularly when I’ve discovered a new-to-me author and want to see if any of her other books were reviewed here), usually read the blog, and occasionally look at Agora to see if there are any new comments on topics of interest.
Looking forward to see what changes are in store. Thanks to all of you for your hard work.
I use the site mostly to look up reviews for recommendations. Less often I check the deals n steals. Very seldom do I check the Agora and Vox Populi links. I have not followed the blog at all.
I am excited to hear about the personal bookshelf feature; so often I read recommendations of other books or authors within a review and would love to store that info somewhere for future use. Right now I either take a photo or write it down on my running booklist on my phone.
I only access AAR via my ipad.
Thanks!