Let’s just say it, Mobile is it. Stats indicate that mobile continue to be the growth platform for people gaining access to websites, and it over took desktop. But marketers still focus on desktop. Worse is that consumers are getting comfortable to buy using their handsets. It’s understandable that marketers like desktop more, simpler since desktop users are 3 times more likely to convert as compared to mobile users. Still, there is much improvement for mobile conversion rates, and one method is to optimize websites for smaller screens. Besides lower conversion rates on mobile, there are issues to be aware of. Sites that are difficult to use on phones will drop in rankings.

In this post 5 methods and tools to be used and improve mobile user experience and mobile conversions will be tackled.

1 Website analytics service

Using different research techniques for desktop and mobile is useful. This is since mobile and desktop styles for users differ. If you split the groups, you will be able to see if there is any particular problem areas.

2 Other online user research tools

ClickTale and Hotjar, which are analytics tools, can make available heat maps and session playbacks, then again also track mobile gestures such as zoom, tap, double tap, scroll, pinch, swipe tilt. But what is the use of these sort of analytic tools – simply they can deliver a good mobile experience. A user’s conduct on mobile can be to a certain extent unlike to their behaviour using a desktop. Besides the screen size that differ, the touch is different also. As such the context in which people use your site may also change for mobile device types.

3 Stakeholder interviews

To supplement your analytics you should conduct stakeholder interviews to gain feedback from the people which work with the site on a daily basis. That is since these are the people that understand what frustration mobile users are having.

4 Customer feedback survey tools

Qualaroo, is a tool that will help with customer feedback about mobile specific issues your mobile site might have. Just keep the questions short and clear. Ideally limit yourself to one question. This should help making feedback easier.

5 User testing

User testing is important to gage a clear picture of how real users find their way through websites. User testing will involve setting users a series of tasks to complete on a website and seeing how easy they find them. Observing people using the site in this way is insightful and frequently displays people using your site in a completely diverse way to how you imagined. But user testing on mobile devices can need more planning and thought then desktop tests. Also to record ordinary interactions and get valid results it is vital to duplicate the real user experience as meticulously as possible.

Common mobile usability complications

Mobile forms can be a hassle. That is since they are difficult to complete since they are too small space and also the absence of a detached keyboard. Designers should also keep in mind that the type of input required from the user; and should dodge dropdown menus. Also some tips would be reducing the number of fields, insertion labels above fields, presenting the correct version of the keyboard and ensuring that all form elements are ‘thumb friendly’ and big sufficient to pick on small mobile screens.

It’s better to use a list than a grid to show categories on a mobile. This is to avoid overcrowding the small screen. User testing on mobile is beneficial here to make sure that the filtering options are clear and usable to your audience.

Usability issues can impact revenue. This is true with checkouts. So as with mobile forms, the elements used all the way through the checkout process should be big enough to be selected with no trouble. Plus, customers should be able to save their details on mobile so it’s there for their next visit. Plus use a step-by-step process instead of one big form.

Make the payment simple and quick, ideally without needing to use their credit cards. This different payment options, like e-wallets such as PayPal, can be helpful to streamline the process.

Critical is the loading speed of a site on mobile. Lagging load speed can irritate consumers and negatively impact converting. Therefore, reduce the size of images, allow for caching and make use of tools like Google PageSpeed Insights to examine how to improve your speed.

Still, the users of mobile and desktop aren’t dissimilar it’s just the devices technology they are using. But marketers should still deliver great content and add customer personalization. Just ensure that the transition from desktop to mobile is as seamless as possible.

Split testing your mobile designs

By using a split test you will gage how your design is working on mobile. These split testing tools could allow you to provide the capability to target exact categories of user, for instance a table or mobile audience. These means that you can run trials purely for these users, and observer their impression accordingly. If the tests are run on all versions of a site then the outcomes can still be segmented to demonstrate their effect on smartphone users.

Using a Quality Assurance (QA) tests prior to going live, could indicate any problems. This needs to be conducted on different platforms, such as iOS and Android, as well as responsive. A different substitute would be to use a phone browser simulator, BrowserStack offer a good tool for this. While these are not a perfect substitute for the real thing. These sort of tool will find out most of the concerns that would be bring into being when using the site on a certain smartphone.

To conclude

The main focus of any conversion rate optimization campaign should be mobile. As mobile, as well as tablet devices, are the majority of website traffic, it is vital that websites are user friendly on these small screen devices. In addition, qualitative and quantitative research should be conducted. After the problem areas such as forms or payment options are identified, then designs can be split tested to measure their potential impact. For further advice, contact Adriaanbrits.com that will exactly direct you to increased optimization.