All too often I see businesses drastically slash their prices or run other insane promotions, that aren’t profitable, just to get more sales.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m definitely an advocate for running promotional campaigns.

It’s just not always necessary if you’re trying to boost ecommerce sales.

Instead, take a look at your channels for content distribution and sales platforms.

Are they optimized for mobile devices?

If you’re not sure, the answer is probably no.

That’s a big problem.

You have to understand how people consume content, browse, and ultimately make purchases.

In the last six months, over 60% of smartphone users purchased something online with their mobile devices.

Furthermore, 80% of consumers use their mobile devices while shopping at physical store locations.

Why would they do this?

• Compare prices
• Find other store locations
• Research product reviews

If your business doesn’t have a strong mobile presence, you’re neglecting a huge share of potential sales.

Accommodating the needs of mobile users could end up being the cash injection your company is looking for.

I’ve got plenty of experience with this, so I can help steer you in the right direction if you don’t know how to get started.

Here’s what you need to do.

Optimize your website for mobile devices

How does your website look when it’s loaded on mobile devices?

Take a look at this example from the Medical Web Experts website:

The left image is what their standard website looks like.

The image on the right is the same website after it’s been optimized for mobile devices.

Notice the differences?

It’s much harder for users to navigate on their phones if the site isn’t optimized.

The font is smaller and harder to read, which forces users to zoom in to find what they’re looking for.

Scrolling can be an issue too.

That’s because the website was designed for laptop and desktop screens.

The page will load, but ultimately it has too many problems.

Once it’s optimized, the page will fit much better on a smaller screen.

Now users will just have to scroll up and down to navigate, as opposed to zooming and needing to scroll left and right as well to see all your content.

This makes it easier for the site visitor to find what they’re looking for in just a click or two.

Ease of use will keep the consumer happy, which can ultimately lead to higher conversion rates.

These are some other added benefits of a mobile friendly website:

I would definitely recommend adding a search bar to your mobile site at the top of the screen.

That makes it even easier for the user to get where they need to be as fast as possible.

Check out these examples from Patagonia, Amazon, and The New Yorker:

All three of these popular websites simplify the search and navigation process for people using their phones and tablets.

Once you modify the design of your mobile site to accommodate mobile users, it’s time to put it to the test.

Enter your site URL on the Google mobile friendly test to see the results.

These are my results when I run the test for Quick Sprout:

As you can see, my mobile site is friendly for users.

In fact, you might even be reading this blog on your mobile device right now.

Speed matters

Having your website designed for mobile devices is only half the battle.

The site needs to load fast too.

You can use the Google mobile speed test to check how fast your page loads on mobile devices.

It all goes back to accommodating the user.

People are busy.

More importantly, they are impatient.

This is a major problem for you if your mobile site takes too long to load.

It doesn’t matter what kind of device they are using.

According to recent studies, users expect mobile pages to load as fast or faster than the pages on their desktop and laptop computers.

Mobile sites that take more than three seconds to load will see a 40% abandonment rate.

Just take a moment to let that sink in.

Four out of every ten users will leave your website if it doesn’t load fast enough.

Fixing a slow loading time can drastically improve your sales because your abandonment rates won’t be as high.

Look at the other statistics on the graphic above as well.

Over 70% of Internet traffic today comes from mobile devices.

The majority of people who search for your site are probably doing so from their phones and tablets.

If you’re not making it as easy as possible for these people to navigate, you are hurting your bottom line.

This is true regardless of what kind of site you’re running.

For ecommerce sites, obviously, the goal of your business is to get users to buy what you’re selling.

But if they can’t locate your items and the pages don’t load fast, you won’t get sales.

Even if you’re not selling a physical product online, you still need to optimize your site for mobile devices.

How do you make money?

Let’s say you run a blog.

You may rely on advertisements to make ends meet.

But if users aren’t spending time on your site or they are abandoning it, you won’t get as many impressions, and your click-through rates will suffer.

Look at the direct correlation between load times and abandonment.

Your website simply can’t survive if your rates are this high.

Recognize how many people are using mobile devices

Part of operating a business and running a website is keeping up with the trends.

You would be surprised how many business owners don’t have a clue about what’s going on, even in their own industries.

It’s mind blowing.

But for argument’s sake, let’s pretend you’re an expert in your industry, which you very well may be.

That’s not enough.

If you have a website, you need to understand how people consume information.

That goes for small businesses too.

Take a look at how searches on various devices resulted in purchases from a local business.

More searches resulted in purchases from mobile phones and tablets than from computers and laptops.

Remember what I said earlier?

People search for items online while they are shopping inside of a physical store.

Obviously, for convenience and practicality purposes, they don’t whip out a computer to do this.

But they can easily reach into their pockets for their  phones.

Let’s continue analyzing the trends.

In 2017, laptops and desktops are trending down.

On the flip side, mobile phones are trending up.

This holds true on a global scale as well.

Over 66% of the population owns a mobile device.

As a business owner who operates a website, you’ve got to stay on top of these kinds of numbers.

Analyze your target market.

Age impacts how people browse and shop online as well.

As you can see from the graphic above, people over the age of 55 use their devices much less than younger generations.

So if you’re selling a product or service that targets senior citizens, you might be getting away with not having a mobile friendly site at the moment.

But you’re still missing out on sales.

Think about all the younger people who may want to buy a gift for their parents or grandparents.

They would browse and shop on their mobile devices.

Plus, this isn’t a sustainable business plan.

Those younger generations are only going to get older, so it’s safe to say these trends will shift and even out over time.

Mobile devices impact buyer behavior

Continuing with our last point, the devices that people browse on impact how they shop.

The reason behind this statement is due to a combination of everything we’ve discussed so far.

Consumers are more likely to buy something if you have a mobile friendly website.

It’s that simple.

Here’s a hypothetical situation.

Let’s say a consumer is shopping in your competitor’s brick and mortar location, which is within a walking distance from your storefront.

The customer is interested in an item, but they want to make sure they’re getting the best price.

They run a quick Google search to see if anyone else sells this particular item at a more reasonable cost.

You offer the same exact item for 20% less than your competitor.

But when the consumer clicks on your website, it takes too long to load, and it’s not mobile friendly.

Now what?

The customer didn’t want to take the time to figure out scrolling and zooming through your complicated website because it wasn’t compatible with their mobile device.

You just missed out on the sale.

They bought from your competitor instead.

If this pattern continues, it will put you on the fast track to going out of business.

A/B test different versions of your mobile site

Once your mobile site is up and running, you have to keep working on it.

Sure, it’s better than it was before, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t room for improvement.

Just like you do with your website and email campaigns, you need to A/B test your mobile website as well.

This will help ensure you get the highest conversion rates possible.

That way you know it’s performing to its full potential.

Approach this test the same way you would any other A/B test.

Just change one component.

For example, you could change the wording, colors, size, or placement of the CTA button.

Here’s a basic example to illustrate what I mean:

I’d recommend testing the performance of different site variations often.

That’s the best way to ensure you’re accommodating the needs of any mobile user who visits your website.

Build an app

For those of you who want to take mobile optimization a step further, it may be in your best interest to build an app for your company.

Apps can help enhance the user experience even more.

It’s not for every business, but I definitely recommend looking into it.

Mobile app development is expensive and takes time.

Even after your app is finished, it’s still going to cost you money to keep it running.

But if you think you have the funds to pull it off, it can definitely be worth your time and financial investment.

The majority of the time that gets spent on mobile devices is through app usage.

It’s a great way to increase the chances that customers spend more time engaging with your company.

I recommend building an app for your business if you have an ecommerce website.

Here’s why.

Your mobile site may be better for the users to browse on when they’re looking up information in a store, but apps make it easier for them to purchase.

The checkout process on your mobile site is long and tedious.

Users have to enter all their personal information, shipping address, and payment method.

This takes a long time, especially on a mobile phone.

There is just too much room for error, and you could see a high number of abandoned shopping carts.

But if you have an app, users, once they download it, can create a profile.

This profile saves all their information.

So when it’s time to check out, your customers can add items to their carts and pay with just a couple of clicks.

This simplified process will increase sales for your ecommerce store.

Conclusion

If the sales for your business are stagnant or declining, it may be because you’re ignoring mobile users.

The trends are changing toward more mobile usage each year.

Optimizing your website to accommodate the needs of these users will help you make more money.

You just have to make sure your mobile site loads fast in addition to being optimized.

Otherwise, you’ll see high abandonment rates.

A/B test different versions of your mobile website to get the highest number of conversions possible.

It may also be in your best interest to build a mobile app for your company, especially if you’re selling something.

Follow these tips, and your website will start making more money from people using mobile devices.

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