Mobile optimization: Why it’s necessary to increase your conversions

Mobile is quickly becoming the preferred way to browse and shop the web as smartphones and tablets become more prominent, lighter and more common. Combined with the increasing availability of the internet and data everywhere, many consumers abandon larger devices and desktops altogether.

As a result, more than 50% of all searches are conducted on mobile devices. In addition, Google suggests that 88% of consumers research products on their phone before purchasing them (in person or online), and 40% of all e-commerce sales occur on mobile.

For these reasons, e-commerce stores should focus on creating a quality user experience for mobile users directly on the websites to increase conversion.

We definitely recommend that you perform an overhaul of your website to get it optimized for mobile. However, you must consider that this is only the first step, because to achieve a good organic positioning in search engines, you must also establish an SEO strategy that will help you outrank your competitors.

What is mobile optimization?

Mobile optimization is about redesigning a website to improve the mobile user experience and increasing the volume of conversions. In other words, the website is scaled down to fit any screen while still allowing users to view content and navigate the site as quickly as with the desktop version.  

Why is mobile optimization so important?

Users are connecting increasingly more from mobile devices (smartphones and tablets), so having a well-optimized website for each format is essential. Moreover, this aspect becomes even more critical in companies with a physical presence (specialized stores, restaurants, among others). 

In addition, web browsing on mobile devices has some particularities. Navigation must be more visual and simplified. The 3G and 4G mobile connections are slower than broadband, so it is vital that the mobile pages do not contain heavy elements. Some elements, such as drop-down menus, are difficult to visualize on mobile devices, so it is necessary to think of designs adapted to each format. 

But that’s not all; there are two other compelling reasons to consider mobile optimization of a website:

A) Improve organic positioning:

Google gives higher preference to those web pages displayed correctly on mobile devices. Therefore, if you have your website prepared for mobile, you will get a boost in your SEO, thus increasing visibility.

B) Improve navigation and user experience:

The user experience on mobile devices is crucial to getting conversions in sales, leads, or whatever goal you have set. In addition, most users reject a website that is not adapted for mobile devices. So it is essential not to lose that traffic of potential customers and reduce the bounce rate.

Mobile SEO Implementation

If you want to improve your website’s mobile responsiveness, we recommend working with a professional team. To throw our name in the hat, we are amongst the best web design companies in Houston with extensive experience in WordPress, mobile optimization and SEO strategies for various platforms.

If you’re a DIY type of person, then here are some mobile optimization techniques you can implement on your own:

1. Mobile SEO audit

First things first, you will have to determine where your website currently stands by performing an audit. This is beneficial because it will allow you to analyze what strategy you should implement. 

You can start the audit using Google’s mobile website speed testing tool called Mobile-Friendly Test. This resource is free, and you can use it to find out how your website performs against Google’s mobile indexing. By doing this, you will discover the three main factors:

A) Mobile-friendliness: it reflects the degree of ease with which visitors can navigate your website. Difficulties such as tiny buttons, unclear navigation prompts, and any other aspects that affects the user experience are considered for this measure. The presence of such problems on the website reduces this score. 

B) Mobile speed score: This measures how fast users can load your website on mobile devices.

C) Desktop speed: represents the speed at which a website loads for desktop users. You have to consider that the website speed on mobile and desktop can be very different because they depend on bandwidth and site structure factors.

Based on this information, you can clearly understand your position for Google’s mobile-first indexing, and will be able to create a strategy to improve your business score.

2. Eliminate clutter

All mobile websites have minimal space compared to desktop versions. For this reason, you cannot display the same design on both versions.

If the goal of your website is to drive conversion, there should be no clear distractions in the mobile navigation. That’s why you need to eliminate large images, extraneous text, pop-ups, and anything else that makes it difficult to understand the site’s information on a small screen.  

This way, you can align your website with all the requirements of mobile device indexing, which will help you get better conversions.

3. Improve the speed of your site

One of the most important things you can do to improve SEO for mobile devices is to improve the loading speed of your website. A 2018 Google study showed that more than half of all mobile users abandon a website if it takes three or more seconds to load. 

Speed has been a determining factor and directly impacts conversions, particularly when people are browsing from their mobile data. If you don’t know how to check the time it takes for your page to load, you can use the free test provided by Google through PageSpeed Insights.

4. Add CTA buttons (Call to action)

You probably think that filling your website with information about your company is attractive to your visitors. Still, the reality is that most people ignore it. Therefore, you should focus on the main objective of your site: to lead visitors to action.

Incorporating a clear call to action (CTA) on your landing pages and home page can immediately lead your visitors to conversion. Remember that your website visitors enter your site with interest. Ideally, they want to take action after reading your offer, and it’s up to you to get them to act.

Mobile browsing is the future of the Web

The mobile consumer era has arrived, so businesses must adapt and evolve along with consumer behavior. Therefore, you should do everything possible to optimize the mobile version of your website for Google, other search engines, and your target audience. 

Mobile SEO is not only about excellent content and impeccable programming but also about creating a pleasant browsing experience and, of course, ensuring an excellent organic positioning in search engines.

Contact a Houston web design company and request a mobile SEO by highly qualified mobile SEO experts.