Catch your clients on the move
There’s a great expression in marketing-speak; meet your clients where they are now. For your business, that means delivering just as great a user experience at the bus stop as the desktop…
The fact is, we’re all more attached to our phones and tablets than ever, and your potential clients are no different. Latest stats show that over 80% of internet users are actively accessing the web every day from a mobile device – and every one of them expects a seamless and enjoyable experience on your site, regardless of whether they’re on an iPhone, Android tablet or laptop!
So, we know your potential customers expect a great user experience on the go, but how important is it where it really matters – your bottom line? Improving your conversion rate from “visitor” to “customer” is my mission in life and there are many factors to consider – see this article of mine on the subject for more tips and advice on this topic – but is it really worth the extra time and effort?
In a word – YES!
Not only is a great mobile site nice to look at, meeting your customers’ needs in this way has them feeling seen, heard and (critically) understood by your company and that builds rapport – fast! It’s not enough to sell the widget or service they’re looking for, your clients really do care WHO they’re dealing with and if they decide you’ve “obviously not bothered” with addressing their needs at this base level, they’ll walk.
Good news is you can avoid this scenario with a healthy portion of testing (see my article on the importance of testing your website here) and really dig into the Responsiveness of your website before it’s even launched.
Responsive testing is, put simply, looking at your site on multiple devices, platforms and browsers. Do the buttons work or are they too small for fingers on a smartphone touch screen? Does it look as good for Apple desktop users as for PC – and which should you prioritise for your target audience – see my article on defining your target client persona if you need help with this.
Then there’s orientation, and how you address this comes down to the nature of your website. If you’re delivering online video content, mobiles viewers will most likely hold their phone in a sideways / landscape position to view this – does the rest of the page still work and make sense if they then scroll on beyond the video?
Navigation menus are another pothole to avoid on this journey too.
Most laptop and smartphone website displays favour the “Burger Menu” – the three horizontal lines at the top of the page which drop down on touch to display all the pages. For a while there was a trend to apply these to desktop views too, but in the main, website visitors like a full menu on a desktop. Again, if you have sub menus and sub pages on your menu – will the burger format support this or does your website need to deliver navigation to mobile users in a completely different way?
As ever, it all comes down to: who is your target audience?
Take the non-profit we recently worked with who were targeting older people in their homes and hoping to engage with them to garner their opinions and input on a new range of community services. Quite rightly, the project management team identified from the outset that their users were less likely to be accessing the site on a smartphone, but what else should they be thinking about? Working with them on this, we clarified that their customer base was probably also using older monitors (typically smaller than the smart modern ones they planned to test on) and also likely older browsers as many were wary of upgrades being downloaded. We coded their site to automatically detect the user’s platform (PC or Mac), browser and screen size, then deliver a positive, easy-to-navigate experience for them based entirely on their personal situation.
Responses and engagement increased dramatically!
There are so many technical aspects to think about when creating your website but, if you really want to see great results, never forget it’s not about the tech – it’s about the human being using it. Give them an intuitive, easy experience and they’ll be loyal to you, with no clicking away as the bus pulls up…
Want 5 easy ways to make more money using skills you already have? Grab your FREE copy of my eBook, Leverage Your Expertise Online, today: www.fatpromotions.co.uk/leverage and discover how to create new income streams by unlocking the hidden profit in your business through your website.