Cell phones have undoubtedly emerged as the prime selling channel for ecommerce businesses today. Buyers love the convenience of browsing and shopping on these devices because they can do it anytime and anywhere. So it is practically impossible to sell unless your website is optimized for mobile devices. Beyond just winning over customers and offering them the convenience of shopping on the go, mobile optimization makes you search-ready too. This is because Google prioritizes mobile-friendly sites while ranking them on top searches, which definitely enhances your online visibility.
Designing a mobile-friendly website, therefore, does not remain a choice for ecommerce businesses today because even the best products will not sell unless buyers are able to see them. So what do you need to do to optimize your website for mobile devices? Essentially, you need to ensure that it runs as seamlessly on smart phones as it does on desktops. The screen size is perhaps the biggest challenge that you need to match, but this is nothing insurmountable. Here are a few measures that can help.
Understanding mobile optimized designs
Before finding ways to optimize your website for mobile devices, it is important to understand what mobile optimized actually means. Basically, an ecommerce store should run smoothly on mobile devices and render easy experiences for shoppers. The terms “responsive”, “mobile-friendly”, and “mobile optimized” are often used in context of ecommerce website design. However, there is a thin line that distinguishes them and you need to understand what each of the terms indicate.
Responsive web design refers to the capability of a design to adapt automatically to the size of the device screen. Responsiveness makes it possible for users to access a site easily irrespective of the device they use.
Mobile-friendly design is a website design that shows content on mobile devices, though it may not render effectively for desktops and tablets. It is just the design that is aligned; the functionality and user experience are not optimized.
Mobile-optimized design is one that is created by utilizing a mobile-first strategy and re-formats itself to match the expectations of mobile users. This one is the most sustainable design approach for the present and the future.
Tips to make your e-commerce website mobile-optimized
Now that you understand that mobile optimization is the best approach to make your ecommerce website conversion-focused, the next requirement would be to know how to do it. Here are some strategies that can help.
Improve website speed
Speed is crucial for the success of any ecommerce website because even a few seconds extra to load can drive visitors away for good. Websites that load fast, on the other hand, propel leads and conversions. What’s more, quicker mobile websites gain higher search ranks. Speed is, therefore, one parameter that you cannot afford to ignore if you want a well-optimized website. Tools such as GTmetrix and Google’s PageSpeed Insights (PSI) give you an accurate idea about your site’s loading speed. After checking the speed, you need to take some measures to optimize the speed. To start with, try to compress the code by minifying it. Keep your images small but do not compromise their quality. Implement caching and keep all aspects of the site updated to ensure that it runs at an optimal speed.
Ensure mobile-friendly design
Besides optimizing the site speed, ensure that it has a mobile-friendly design as well. Responsive is the way to go because it makes the website ready to render across all kinds of devices. Start by designing for the finger because mobile users need to navigate with their finger. Make sure that users can scroll and tap the elements with ease. Another parameter to bear in mind is to get rid of pop-ups because they can overload the site and compromise its performance. As a rule, never use Flash, rather add elements using HTML 5 or Java .
Redesign pop-ups for mobile devices
Speaking about pop-ups, you cannot eliminate them completely because they grab the visitor’s attention and even drive conversions. Strategically placed pop-ups are, thus, a necessity for ecommerce websites. However, screen space is more important on smaller devices and having pop-ups in your design can cause a problem. Ensure that your mobile pop-ups abide by the new Google pop-up guidelines else your site may get penalized. Essentially, they should be as non-obstructive as possible and also cover only a small fraction of the device screen. Further, they must be easy to close or dismiss.
Ease the checkout process
The checkout page is one of the most important pages on the site as it determines whether visitors will convert. For optimizing the site for mobile, the checkout page should be specifically designed for mobile devices, with a user-friendly look and functionalities. Further, the checkout process should be made as smooth and simple as possible and the number of clicks to complete it should be minimal. At the same time, the payment process should be secure so that users trust your store enough to pay online. Implementing guest checkout is also a good idea because it reduces the hassles for users.
Enable Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP)
Google has recently come up with the Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) project as a part of its initiative to provide smoother experiences for mobile users. AMPs refer to the mobile-friendly versions of the website’s pages. The process comprises stripping of the content and discarding the unneeded media files and advanced layouts. The version of these pages are rendered for the users accessing the site with a mobile device. A large number of websites have embraced AMPs to render peak performance for their mobile versions.
Test the site for mobile-friendliness
Besides working on mobile optimization strategies, keep an eye on how the site is already faring in terms of mobile-friendliness. It will enable you identify the specific areas that need work and provide useful information on making improvements. You can test the website by using it on different devices. Access it on desktop, smartphone and tablet to check its look and feel. With this, you can get a fair idea about the design’s look, content readability, loading time, and ease of navigation on a small screen. You can also use a dedicated testing tool to get a more in-depth view of the site’s mobile friendliness.
Conclusion
As the world becomes more mobile-centered than ever before, shoppers prefer to access ecommerce stores and shop via mobile phones. Businesses too need to realign their strategies to reach to this ever-growing audience segment and remain competitive in the market. Having a mobile-compatible ecommerce website design is the best approach. However, achieving compatibility with mobile devices is easier said than done. At the same time, it is ultimately worth the effort. Following the aforementioned tips can help you achieve the objective and make a considerable impact on a mobile audience. So, if you do not already have a mobile-optimized design for your website, do it sooner than later because you will miss a big opportunity if you don’t!
