Do People Really Use Tag Clouds?
October 2nd, 2007 by Garrick SchmittTags: Digital Consumer Behavior
That question, more than any other, was the driving force behind the Avenue A | Razorfish inaugural Digital Design Outlook (DDO) which we are releasing on Tuesday, October 2nd.
Entitled Fast Forward: Designing for Constant Change, the report examines online consumer behavior and how its subtle and not-so subtle shifts in recent years is impacting the way companies design user experiences and build their digital brands.The report is available starting Tuesday, October 2nd in PDF (right) and in full HTML text on this blog. We have also released a graphic-less “lo-fi” version for easier reading.
Highlights include the results of our first annual Digital Consumer Behavior Survey, in which we found that today’s “connected consumers” are personalizing their digital experiences with surprising frequency. These consumers are also snacking on highly specialized content, such as blogs and interactive video, far more than ever thought and using search for almost everything.
We also found that there are many Web 2.0-ish things that today’s consumers aren’t doing. Much to my chagrin, we found that consumers certainly aren’t using tag clouds with any great frequency (though many do seem to know what they are) and mobile usage in North America is nascent as well, with the minority barely using mobile data services.
The report also contains a series of wide-ranging essays, where members of the Avenue A | Razorfish global design team contend that marketers need to stop thinking of creating better banner ads or websites in isolation but rather create connected consumer experiences across several digital platforms, including websites, widgets, and mobile devices. There is also a new brand scorecard to help marketers measure the effectiveness of their digital brands in response to empowered consumers.
Some highlights:
- In Digital Darwinism Joe Crump creates a new scorecard to measure the effectiveness of all brands in a digital world.
- Marcelo Marer tracks the rise of the consumer-turned-publisher in Superdistribution and the Digital Ecosystem.
- Marisa Gallagher charts the online video revolution and turns in a nifty “how-to-guide” in Video Killed the Internet Star.
- Got ID? finds Laura Porto examining the role of identity management in the Web 2.0 world.
- Bethany Fenton explores the still fringe behavior of Social Shopping in an essay that contends traditional retailers still have much to learn.
Think of this report as a conversation starter. Hopefully you’ll agree with some things, take issues with others, but always find something interesting to take away.We look forward to hearing from you.
13 Responses to “Do People Really Use Tag Clouds?”
Liked the report a lot, but am confused about your survey data. I assume you surveyed online consumers only, but did you sample by age or online experience??
Thanks, Steve. I’ve had a few requests for more background on who is a “connected consumer.” I’ll do a full post this week, but in short here are the main characteristics:
1. Access to broadband
2. Spent $200 online in the past year (travel, netflix, tickets, amazon, etc.)
3. Visited a “community site” (myspace, youtube, facebook, classmates, etc.)
4. Equal split between geo and demos.
The respondents, who we surveyed online, track pretty closely to the 40-50% of the U.S. (depending on what report you read) that have broadband. Hope this helps.
Thanks for the information. With the survey group being active broadband users, the data makes much more sense to me. I also find it more interesting, and indicative of where usage is going.
While consumers may not be using tag clouds, that data behind those clouds is most likely being used. By tagging content, it makes it easier to find content related to the article currently being read.
From an SEO perspective I’ve found that individual tag pages that contain an aggregate lists of posts for that given term typically rank very high in search engines. In some cases I have even found that the aggregate page with one post ranks higher than the actual page that was tagged.
i think it is ok to use a tag cloud for a certain blog or website.
While consumers may not be using tag clouds, that data behind those clouds is most likely being used. By tagging content, it makes it easier to find content related to the article currently being read.
Thanks for the information. With the survey group being active broadband users, the data makes much more sense to me. I also find it more interesting, and indicative of where usage is going.
It is a wonderful article,i like it,thank you very much!