It’s a fact: you can’t ignore your brand’s mobile experience. Research from Statista estimates that roughly 50 percent of web traffic comes from cellular devices. So, what does your organization need to do? Put equal parts effort into your phone and tablet experience as your desktop website. For those that may be tackling this for the first time, the content marketers at 10x Digital share their top seven tips to optimize your brand’s mobile experience:
1. Study the mobile behaviors of your audience.
Every successful project starts with research. Set aside time to understand the online behaviors of your target audience. Your consumers—the devices they use, the platforms they like, and the places they search for information—may differ from the patterns deducted from general population data. Once you know your users’ expectations, you can cater the mobile experience to their needs.
2. Design with responsive in mind.
Historically, mobile design was an afterthought. We created beautiful layouts that work on a desktop computer, hoping for the best as they condense onto a smaller screen. The truth is that mobile experiences require mobile-optimized designs. Just as you create a desktop version of your home page, create a design in parallel that expertly lays out the same information in a phone-friendly format.
3. Create compelling content overviews.
A small overview blurb at the beginning of your landing page can make all the difference for a mobile user. In contrast to a desktop visitor, someone on their cellphone likely wants quick information—easy to digest and read. By providing a summary of your content at the top of the page or writing an informative, compelling headline, you let readers know what they’re getting before they scroll the page.
4. Format content for quick scanning.
Just as you might provide an overview to mobile visitors, ensure that your content is formatted for quick scanning. Research from the Nielson Normal Group found that 79 percent of respondents in their testing scanned new content, with only 16 percent reading word-by-word. To make your content more “scannable,” consider using strong headlines, highlighting keywords, and shortening paragraphs.
5. Adjust visuals for mobile viewing.
In most cases, photographs will easily translate to mobile experiences. However, graphs, charts, or infographics often become challenging to read and are overlooked. If your content includes vital visual data, consider creating an adjusted version to display on mobile devices. If an image doesn’t translate well to mobile, find a way to communicate its data in a different format, like video or text. If you want to share a full-size report with users, consider creating a “send to my email” option where viewers can directly share the PDF to their email, eliminating the hassle of trying to read small text on their phone.
6. Improve your site load speed.
Ever wonder why a user might immediately bounce from your site? If it’s not clicking the wrong link, it’s often a primary culprit. A slow-moving web page signifies that the website is inefficient or untrustworthy. Combat this with regular speed optimization. You can improve your speed by changing your web service provider, minifying resources, or allowing compression, among other things.
7. QA with a mobile-friendly testing tool.
Finally, never launch a web page without testing it first. A rigorous QA process ensures that all the bugs are taken care of and that both the desktop and mobile experiences work seamlessly. Some QA technology also allows you to test your content on multiple phone types and browsers, giving you the peace of mind that your content will appear correctly for almost every visitor. Once you have launched your web page, schedule ongoing QA sessions to regularly assess potential bugs or glitches.
