Snapguide wants to be your handheld how-to guide for everything
There are plenty of websites that provide in-depth information about specific topics, but apart from a few tired old services like eHow from Demand Media, there aren't many places you can go to find how-to guides for a wide range …
Context & Ripple Effects
Snapguide enters broad how-to publishing as Demand Media retreats from high-volume freelance production after Google’s algorithm change reduced referral traffic to its sites. That leaves eHow’s search-led model exposed to both production-cost pressure and dependence on search rankings.
The story drew pickups across several technology and consumer-web outlets, signaling interest in a mobile-first alternative to established how-to destinations rather than a niche reference site.
First-order effects
- Snapguide gives people seeking instructions a handheld destination spanning multiple topics, placing it in direct competition for how-to attention with eHow and other web-based guide services.
- Demand Media faces another challenge to eHow’s audience at a time when it is scaling back the high-volume writing operation that supplied its catalog.
Second-order effects
- How-to publishers have greater incentive to make guides usable in handheld contexts rather than rely chiefly on search referrals to desktop-oriented pages.
- Demand Media’s economics become more sensitive to whether its existing library can retain readers without matching a mobile-native how-to experience.
Third-order effects
- If handheld guide services win repeat use, practical-information publishing may shift from large, search-indexed article inventories toward products organized around mobile consumption and task completion.
The trend: How-to publishing is being pressured to move beyond search-dependent content volume toward mobile-first instructional products.