Tips for Improving Your Mobile Website

Your website’s first impression will make or break you. Research shows that over half of the conversions your site receives will be made on the initial visit. Here are some tips to help you maximize results for your mobile website. 

Technical

• Responsive Design – It kind of goes without saying today, but unless you want to invest in adaptive design, responsive design is the way to go.
• Scrolling is OK – Past design best practices encouraged the most important content to be above the fold. Today, the “fold is old.” Mobile visitors are accustomed to lots of scrolling on the small screen.
• No Pinch and Squeeze – It’s a pain. Convert documents from PDFs to HTML so you can avoid the pinch and squeeze. 

Navigation

• Use Standard Labels – Don’t try to get too cute with copywriting. Use the terms people already know like “Contact Us” rather than some weird variation of it.
• Limit Navigation Choices –  The trend is to use less and not more. Try to keep your nav choices to 4, but no more than 6 on mobile.
• Drop Downs Stink – Use a hamburger menu instead on mobile.

Images

• Personalize Images – Off the shelf images look like canned pictures. Invest in photography. This is especially important in the home services business. Show pictures of staff that you’d trust to be in your home.
• Avoid Rotating Carousels – Often, people can’t decide on the hero image so they use multiple images. Pick the best one instead. Carousel imagery cuts down on conversions.
• Use the Right Side – Images on the left that push copy to the right just looks dumb. People are used to seeing images in the upper right. Don’t try to change that.

Tips for Great Website Content

• Less is More – Sell one big idea rather than confusing the visitor with too much information.
• Don’t Replace Sales – The mobile website does not replace the salesperson. Rather, it makes the visitor want to talk with sales.
• Make it Scannable – People don’t like to read. Use images, headlines, subheadings, bold text, bullet lists, and captions.

Street Cred

• Testimonials – Sure, you might have made them up so it’s best to use real names and companies if your customers are willing. Adding pictures of the person is even better. Third party mentions work.
• Use Well Known Company Logos – If you’ve worked with a company like FedEx, you are probably good enough to work with us. 
• Use Exact Numbers – If I read that your client increased its monthly sales by $10,000 I’m going to think you made that up. But, if you tell me that your customer increased its sales by $11,274.59, I’ll believe it.

Make it Personal

• Improve Bios – People like to work with people like them. They especially like to work with people that went to the same college. Use that information and make sure the headshots look good. People prefer to work with attractive people. 
• Charitable Efforts – Millennials and Gen Z find it important that your company is about more than making a profit. Show how you are giving back to the community. 
• Highlight Company Events – Hiring top employees is the single most important thing you can do to grow your business. People want work that is challenging and fun. 

Great Calls to Action

• Don’t Make Them Have to Look – Make your CTA buttons stand out. Use a color like orange that is bright and different from the rest of the site. Never use red, because red indicates stop.
• Consistent Placement – Always keep a CTA button in the header or footer so that it’s always there.
• Guarantee – Provide no hassle returns and eliminate reasons for the consumer to not convert.

Contact Methods

• Phone Numbers – Make sure the phone number is prominently displayed and provides a click to call from mobile. If you use a landline, make sure you provide a text to landline option. 
• Phone Tracking – For a small investment, you can test your marketing investment by using call tracking numbers. You can even listen to how your staff is responding to those inbound calls for additional training.
• Form Fills – Especially younger adults will prefer to fill out a form rather than make a call. Limit the number of fields required to maximize participation. 

Testing

• Google Analytics 4 is a must. If you don’t know how to set it up properly with conversions, hire an agency or consultant to help you.
• Test – Always be testing something on the website. Keep statistics so that you aren’t just guessing on your conversion rate.
• Validate Leads – Marketing will tell you how many leads they generated. Sales will tell you if those leads were good or not

Bob Bentz is CEO of Purplegator and is also the author of Relevance Raises Response: How to Engage and Acquire with Mobile Marketing. The second edition of his book is available now on Amazon. Bob also teaches the graduate level course in mobile marketing at West Virginia University.