Whether we’re shopping for eye-liner, concert tickets or a vacation in Paris, the Internet has changed how we decide what to buy. Brands have to provide useful, relevant information fast if they hope to be useful to consumers. A sluggish mobile site is a huge road block in achieving your goal of being the preferred brand customers select.
The research:
A study by Google on Micro-Moments found out that 29% of smart phone users will immediately switch to a different app or mobile site if the one they are on does not satisfy their need i.e.
If it does not have the information they need or;
If it takes too many steps to get the desired information or perform a certain task.
Of those who switch, 70% will leave an app or site because speed related issues like slow load times or too many steps to achieve their desired goal.
So how can brands optimize their mobile sites and apps in order to satisfy this consumer need for speed?
Eliminating steps:
The more steps customers have to take in order to achieve their goal, the more likely they will be to leave your site early. Start by thinking what the goal of your site is and customize it in order to reduce the number of steps a user must take in order to reach this goal. You can easily achieve this by incorporating the following features on your site:
Click to call buttons.
Offering GPS powered directions to your location.
Using one-click functionalities to streamline in-app registrations or sales.
Think ahead and anticipate your customer’s needs:
Being fast often means knowing what your customer wants before they ask for it. You need to know what users are doing on your site so as to figure out what to prioritize when optimizing your site and then do the following:
Ensure you include the calls-to-action for the prioritized activities on your homepage, with those with less priority being hidden under menus.
It is a good idea to have customized information about your location on your site. Google found that 61% of mobile users are more inclined to buy from sites and apps which have customized location information.
Improve your load time:
Load time is probably the most important factor in getting customers to stay on your site. Truth is, even the most well thought out mobile site will still fail if it takes forever to load. Google learned that it takes the average mobile user no more than three seconds of waiting for a page to load before they leave a site. Have a technical team look through your site in order to get it optimized for speed.
This checklist will help you identify the areas in which you need to improve on.
What main tasks do you want users to perform on your site and how long does it take to perform these tasks?
What features on your site are essential to your customer and how can you use these to anticipate their needs?
How long do pages take to load on your site?
Today, most consumers turn to their mobile devices and expect brands to be there in those mobile micro-moments when they are researching a product, seeking to learn how to do something new or when they are looking for local businesses. A sluggish mobile site is a huge road block in achieving your goal of being the preferred brand customers select. Optimizing your site for mobile will give you an edge in reaching your customers in the moments that matter.
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