The market has changed, and now franchise marketing companies are being inundated with requests for mobile site optimization – read on for 5 tips to help your mobile optimization effort.
The Modern Mobile Market
Contemporary commerce is happening online, and on the go. The growth of mobile audiences has been exponential; in 2015, mobile users eclipsed their desktop-shopping peers in Google searches worldwide.
The nature of these mobile interactions has been changing, too. Where once franchise marketing companies dismissed mobile searches as fleeting, convenience-based confirmations of an address, Google map listing, or business review, it seems that mobile users are now using their devices as their primary search and purchase platform. Even as early as the third quarter of 2014, researchers noticed mobile users purchasing orders that were roughly equal in size to those made by desktop users. People are picking up their smartphones for everything from day-to-day internet browsing, to big-ticket purchases.
Franchise marketing companies are taking notice of this trend, and starting to adjust their mobile optimization strategies accordingly. Google’s April 2015 release of a particularly mobile-friendly algorithm update has set off a landslide of activity; business owners are scrambling to ensure their pages are not only compatible with mobile use, but optimized for the best experience.
Understanding Mobile Audiences
Unfortunately, many businesses and franchise marketing companies are behind the 8-ball. It’s been found that one in four websites are currently not designed to engage mobile audiences. This problem persists despite Google’s recent release of a guidebook for brands on how to create an attractive, functional mobile site.
In their defense, there are some surprising differences in the nature of mobile and desktop audiences; appealing to this new user base is neither easy nor intuitive, and for the uninitiated, it might not even seem worth it. To provide an example, franchise marketing companies are often shocked by the rock-bottom conversion rates exhibited by mobile users. A recent study clocked mobile conversions around 0.92% – a far cry from the average 3.41% measured for desktop users.
So why invest so much time and energy into mobile conversion for such dismal results? Looking solely at the numbers paints a misleading picture; a real understanding of consumer behaviour is required before the value of mobile optimization shines through. For example, the low conversion rate can be explained away quite easily: most users will access your company website either while physically inside the brick-and-mortar store, or to grab quick bits of information, such as the phone number, store hours, or store location. Though the mobile behaviour itself did not suggest conversions were happening, researchers found that customers browsing the shop website while inside the store were 40% more likely to make a purchase in person.
Five Rapid-Fire Ways to Accommodate Mobile Audiences
Here are five ways that franchise marketing companies are starting to win in mobile search and content in 2016:
- Understand the audience. Know what users are doing on their mobile devices, and what they want to find on your site. How is the mobile site influencing buying decisions? Which pages are users visiting most frequently? Consider using buyer personas to gather more information on what visitors want to see.
- Target those audiences. Use the information you’ve gathered to design your site layout to accommodate your users’ behaviours. Most franchise marketing companies will want to ensure information like store hours and click-to-call buttons is being featured prominently.
- Create the content your audiences want. Mobile users are interested in taking action – they want an address, a phone number, and purchase information. Your content should try to encourage this decisive, action-oriented behaviour.
Mobile audiences also want speedy content. Quick load time is crucial; check all pages for unnecessary images or scripts. Images add value to your site, but you must maintain a careful balance. - Engage mobile audiences. Mobile users are often engaged by “accordion menus” because of their ability to keep information organized and navigation-friendly. Keep these menu goals in mind while you organize your content. It will make your content easier to find and enjoy, which makes it more engaging.
Finally, don’t forget the social nature of mobile phones. Make your content easy to share with one-click share buttons to increase the likelihood that it’s shared and explored by broader audiences. - Convert engaged mobile audiences. Once you’ve brought mobile users to your site and engaged them with compelling content, it’s time to start unleashing your calls-to-action. Task-oriented content can be very helpful in this regard; structure content to funnel users towards the “Buy” button, or at least encourage them to visit you in store.
Franchise marketing companies like 360 Business Local can help you as you optimize your site’s mobile experience. Beyond these five rapid-fire tips, your franchise marketing company will help you monitor and measure user behaviour on-site, so that you can continue to polish and refine your mobile strategy throughout 2016.
To learn more about the kind of mobile-responsive site optimization you should expect from other franchise marketing companies, or to recruit the experts at 360, visit https://www.360businesslocal.com/services/website-design/.