As 2012 draws to a close, one startÂup has cause to feel very satÂisÂfied with its achieveÂments: Onswipe, which speÂcialÂizes in buildÂing touchÂscreen-optiÂmized webÂsites for pubÂlishÂers, ends the year with 44 milÂlion visÂiÂtors accessÂing conÂtent through its platÂform and 10 milÂlion active users every month on iOS alone.
Chief techÂnolÂoÂgy offiÂcers, prodÂuct manÂagers and busiÂness develÂopÂment assoÂciates alike will be intrigued by how the startÂup, which launched in 2011, achieved its sucÂcess. GivÂen that News Corps’ tablet-focused pubÂliÂcaÂtion The DaiÂly recentÂly foldÂed, opporÂtuÂniÂties for busiÂness growth in the touch-screen marÂket might look a tad inauspicious.
Move over deskÂtops — the world’s going mobile
But Onswipe’s CEO and co-founder Jason BapÂtiste is clear that the mediÂum wasn’t the probÂlem: it was, he says, the publication’s payÂwall that hobÂbled it — that, and expectÂing peoÂple to downÂload an app to access it. The Daily’s shutÂdown, BapÂtiste insists, doesn’t alter the fact that the world is migratÂing from the deskÂtop in a big way.
CrunchÂing supÂplied by QuantÂcast mobile trafÂfic data for TumÂblr and WordPress.com, BapÂtiste has calÂcuÂlatÂed that, between them, they account for over 3.2 milÂlion unique iPad visÂiÂtors to Onswipe-tweaked conÂtent in the US.
72 per cent of the firm’s visÂits come from the US, although there are small but sigÂnifÂiÂcant numÂbers from elseÂwhere, too. The UK accounts for 6.6 per cent, CanaÂda 4.8 per cent, and AusÂtralia 2.7 per cent. ColÂlecÂtiveÂly, well over half (61 per cent) chose to view conÂtent in porÂtrait mode, while 39 per cent did so in landscape.
Big things in 2013?
BapÂtiste is bullÂish about his company’s prospects for 2013, which he says will be “a very sigÂnifÂiÂcant revÂenue year.” So far, the firm’s emphaÂsis has been on buildÂing its pubÂlishÂer netÂwork and audiÂence; but there’ll be a shift in accent come the New Year. A new suite of ad prodÂucts is in the pipeline, aimed not simÂply at improvÂing pubÂlishÂers’ mobile presÂence but delivÂerÂing “large increasÂes in revenue.”
As it proÂclaims on its webÂsite, Onswipe makes it “insaneÂly easy for a pubÂlishÂer of any size to make their existÂing conÂtent a beauÂtiÂful app-like expeÂriÂence in the browsÂer.” And the approach is payÂing off – the firm appointÂed its first chief revÂenue offiÂcer, Jared Hand, in August. PubÂlishÂers appear to like the Onswipe effect and are willÂing to pay for it.