Conversion rate optimization, or CRO, refers to practices and techniques that are used to increase the number of users that reach your landing pages and convert into paying customers. It’s a wide field with a lot of different practices, but there’s a major divide here: mobile and desktop users.
The techniques that work for a desktop user don’t necessarily work for someone on-the-go using a mobile device. That’s why today I’m going to show you 7 actionable techniques you can use to optimize your mobile landing pages and earn yourself more customers.
Desktop vs Mobile CRO: Why The Difference?
Before we dive into today’s techniques, let’s take a moment to look at some reasons why there should be a divide between your mobile and desktop CRO practices. The main differences are the following:
- Available space is vastly different between the two.
- Attention spans on smartphones are much lower.
- Mobile users like instant-gratification and solutions.
Catering to the mobile crowd is absolutely worth it when you consider that 63% of people expect to be doing more shopping on their mobile devices in the coming years. Mobile ecommerce is already a multi-billion dollar industry and growing by the year.
As a basis for these techniques, your website and specifically your landing pages should be mobile responsive. It’s time to find out how you can start optimizing for your mobile customers. Check out this product roadmap guide for eCommerce.
1. Fast Website Loading Time
When your business starts a website or blog, the first thing you’re going to do is test and see how fast it runs. Speed, after all, is crucial to your success as a company. According to studies, a single second delay in your loading time can cost you up to 7% in conversions.
Mobile users expect websites to load fast, or they will go elsewhere. In fact, 73% of mobile users have also said that they’ve encountered website’s that were too slow.
The bottom line is that when you’re company is looking to start a blog, you’ll need to look for great hosting as a basis for your website’s speed. From there, you can use these tips to further increase your speed.
We don’t want your website to be counted as one, so here’s how you can check:
- Start with a check on Google’s PageSpeed Insights
- Take a look at your hosting company. Are others have issues with speed as well? You may also need a better/more powerful hosting plan if you have a lot of customers.
- If you’re using WordPress, make sure you have a caching plugin (W3 Total Cache is my favorite)
- Make sure you’re optimizing images by compressing them with a tool like Optimizilla so they load faster.
- Limit redirects by sending mobile users directly to the mobile version of the landing page instead of redirecting from the desktop version.
2. Descriptive Headers and Scannable Content
Mobile users don’t have the time or patience to read through massive chunks of content or complicated explanations. For this technique, simply imagine yourself on-the-go and create your content to match that type of rhythm.
Internet users have an attention span of eight seconds now on mobile devices. Follow these best practices to keep your content scannable:
- Use headers to organize content, keep them descriptive so it’s easy to find specific information.
- Features and benefits can be conveyed via bullet point lists.
- Text paragraphs should not be more than 3 lines in length.
Creating content that is easy to scan and digest is one of the many habits of successful bloggers that you’ll want to learn for your mobile content.
3. Key Information Above the Fold
The term, “above the fold” refers to print newspapers and the content above the crease in print. For online users, this term applies to what can be seen without scrolling on desktop or mobile device.
A study done by Nielsen Norman Group found that users will scroll down your page, but only if what they see above the fold is promising enough to keep their attention. Here’s how this translates to your CRO:
- Start with great headlines that grab attention.
- Immediately provide value and set up expectations for the content below the fold.
- In short, above the fold is reserved for your value proposition and a promise of more value beneath it.
- In some cases, it’s appropriate to place your CTA (call-to-action) above the fold when your value proposition is strong enough.
In essence, your information above the fold you should be the key valuable content that visitors need to see to keep them on your page.
4. Clear and concise CTA
Your CTA (call-to-action) is the final step users have to take before they go from a lead to a customer. In order to facilitate this conversion, you need to have a clear and concise CTA that doesn’t beat around the bush.
Here are some tips for a mobile-optimized CTA that convinces leads to convert:
- Start with a verb (i.e “Buy” “Shop” “order”)
- Use emotional and exciting language combined with an exclamation point.
- Provide a reason to take the action (your unique selling point), tell them what they’re getting out of the deal.
5. A/B Testing
No single landing page layout is going to be perfect. When you’re faced with a huge number of design decisions, A/B testing can be used to try out multiple layouts and gather data on how you can improve and optimize your design.
Let’s take a look at how that process works:
- Start with an analytics tool like Google Analytics to measure metrics like traffic, bounce rate, and conversions.
- Combine this with an A/B testing tool like Optimizely that can send the results to your analytics platform.
- To further examine your landing page effectiveness, consider utilizing a heat map that shows how customers are interacting with your landing pages.
By creating two versions of your landing pages and recording the variations between the two, you can utilize A/B testing to see which factors are performing better.
6. Easy Access to Support
If your mobile customers encounter an issue, they should be able to reach support quickly and without delay. This means that simple contact information isn’t enough. Instead, you should include the option to click the support line and instantly connect them to a call.
This isn’t very difficult and can be done using the following HTML code:
- <a href=”tel: +(telephone number here)>(telephone number)</a>
You should include the full international number which will ensure that the call goes through regardless of the user’s location.
7. Removal of Navigation Links
Our final technique is simple, yet effective. When someone hits your landing page, the last thing you want them to do is leave. By removing any external links to your homepage or your products page, you eliminate the possibility of them clicking away from the page before they engage with your CTA, and ultimately increase your conversions according to studies.
If your landing page software allows it, you can simply remove the navigation links in your header and footer. If you need to do it manually, you can modify your eCommerce site’s HTML file with some simple code:
For an ID:
<style type=”test/css”>
#(name of id){display: none;}
</style>
For a class:
<style type=”text/css”>
.(name of class){display: none;}
</style>
Final Thoughts
Your conversion rate optimization efforts should be divided between desktop and mobile to make the best use of your time and energy. Try out these techniques and watch how they influence your conversion on mobile devices. How do you optimize for mobile users? Let us know in the comments!
