In this highly competitive digital landscape where the number of users who access services through smartphones and tablets has skyrocketed, CRO mobile optimization is a quintessential aspect of designing digital products.
Businesses that want to get ahead of the curve, should work on optimizing their mobile interface to cater to this increasing number of users. From user research practices that are inclusive of mobile users to designing interfaces that are optimized for mobile devices and technically developing products for optimal mobile performance, CRO mobile optimization should be a shared priority for all product professionals across the board.
What is CRO (Conversion Rate Optimization)?
Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) is a process aimed at increasing the percentage of website visitors who take a desired action. This can include filling out a form, signing up for your services, or buying a product. The process of CRO optimization involves understanding how users move through your site, what actions they take, and what’s stopping them from completing your goals.
Why Is CRO Mobile Optimization Important?
When it comes to CRO mobile optimization the stats paint the picture for us. Research shows, that 37% of users are more likely to buy from a mobile-responsive website whereas a fast-loading mobile website can have up to 15% better conversion. If you are still not convinced here are 5 benefits that a mobile-focused CRO can bring to your organization:
- Improved User Experience: CRO mobile optimization leads to frictionless experiences, streamlined processes, and overall improved user experience.
- Higher Conversion Rates: Optimizing for smartphone and tablet users ensures that organizations can tap into the increasing number of those users, leading to more traffic and higher conversion rates.
- CRO as a Competitive Advantage: Mobile is here to stay so prioritizing mobile conversion rate optimization is quintessential if you want to gain a sustainable competitive advantage in this ever-changing tech market.
- Positive Brand Perception: CRO mobile optimization helps to create a seamless mobile user experience. In turn, this creates a positive brand reputation that fosters trust and loyalty.
- Cross-Device Consistency: CRO mobile optimization ensures a seamless experience throughout the different devices that users might choose to access the service from. In this way, the conversions can be maintained at the desired level no matter the device the user is on.
Mobile CRO Optimization Process
Here is a step-by-step process to kickstart your CRO mobile optimization journey with UXtweak.
Step 1: Define Conversion Goals & Metrics
Start by clearly defining your conversion goals. The conversion goals are essentially actions that you want your users to take on your website or app. This can be downloading an asset, signing up for a newsletter, or completing a purchase online.
Don’t forget to set smart engagement metrics such as conversion rates or click-through rates, to track progress as well as key performance indicators to measure success.
Step 2: Set Up UXtweak
Sign up to UXtweak and create a project for your mobile CRO optimization. Start by familiarizing yourself with the dashboard to get a better understanding of the tools available. Don’t forget that you can customize your dashboard’s view based on the unique nature of your project.
Step 3: Conduct Usability Tests
When it comes to CRO mobile optimization observing how the users interact with your mobile interface is key!
Start by conducting usability tests with mobile users to notice any friction points or areas for improvement along the user’s journey towards the goal completion. Give participants conversion-related tasks to complete on your mobile website or app and watch how they perform.
Using UXtweak’s Mobile Usability Testing tool, you can capture the sessions while having access to advanced session analytics, usability testing metrics, and scores. You can see the completion rate of each task and analyze where the design needs to be tweaked to optimize for conversions.
See how Mobile Usability Testing works in these demos 👇
Step 4: Implement Card Sorting
The structure of your mobile interface can make or break the conversion rate of your mobile app or website. You can drill into the information architecture of your mobile using UXtweak’s card sorting tool.
Using this tool you can get a better understanding of how users categorize and prioritize content as well as invaluable insights for the overall navigation experience. By analyzing card sorting results you can optimize your navigation for higher conversions while ensuring that it’s still smooth and intuitive for the mobile user.
Card Sorting example.
Step 5: A/B Prototype Testing
When implementing changes based on the research insights, a good strategy is to bid two designs against each other in A/B Prototype Testing to see which one performs better. This way you can create various versions of your CRO-optimized product and let the metrics and users decide on the best one.
Simply monitor how users behave with each prototype and make informed decisions on the winning variation. You can conduct Prototype A/B Testing with UXtweak’s Prototype Testing Tool.
Step 6: Analyze Results & Implement Changes
After engaging in thorough testing, it is time to analyze your results and decide on the changes that will move the needle for your mobile CRO. When analyzing the results of your tests, look for patterns and identify sticky points that call for improvement.
When prioritizing the implementation of changes, work through the ones that you know will have a greater impact on the conversion of your goals.
Step 8: Iterate & Refine
CRO mobile optimization is an iterative process. Once you have implemented your changes ensure to continuously monitor how the changes perform. Here is where your user engagement metrics and key performance indicators will come in handy. Based on those you will evaluate the impact of the changes on your CRO mobile optimization.
Best Practices for Mobile CRO Testing
- Define Clear Objectives: One of the best practices when it comes to CRO mobile optimization is to define clear goals, metrics, and key performance indicators that will measure the success of your testing.
- Test Real-World Scenarios: Always use real-world scenarios when building the script for your mobile CRO optimization testing. In this way, you can get real, juicy data that apply to real-world situations.
- Test for Mobile Device Diversity: When it comes to mobile CRO optimization always aim to prioritize mobile responsiveness across an array of mobile devices and screen sizes. Do not forget to test having this mobile spectrum in mind.
- Combine Quantitative & Qualitative Data: Another golden rule when it comes to CRO mobile optimization is taking into consideration both your qualitative and qualitative data. This approach will give you a more rounded understanding of the user behavior and help you understand the ‘why’ behind the action.
Pitfalls to Avoid in Mobile CRO Testing
Apart from knowing some of the mobile CRO best practices we’ve just mentioned, it’s good to be aware of common mistakes businesses make when trying to optimize for conversions.
Here are some of the most critical ones:
- Testing with the Wrong Users: One of the major pitfalls when it comes to mobile CRO optimization is testing with users who are not representative of your target audience. Make sure to test with participants that fall under your main user personas to avoid misguided optimizations.
- Focusing only on Conversion Rates: Focusing only on conversion rates can make you lose the forest for the tree. Make sure to adopt a holistic approach to user problems and do not overlook the qualitative aspects of user experience.
- Overlooking Page Load Times: Do not overlook page load speed as this can have a dramatic impact on the user experience of mobile users. High bounce rates can be a great indicator of this!
- Neglecting User Feedback: Neglecting user feedback is another grave mistake when it comes to CRO mobile optimization testing. Not taking into consideration user feedback might lead to poorly informed optimization strategies with low impact.
CRO mobile optimization strategies
If you are looking for mobile optimization strategies look no further!
Here is a list of our top picks when it comes to designing for better mobile conversions:
1. Conduct Mobile-focused Research
If you are looking to design for an optimized mobile user experience then you need to make sure your user research is tailored to that. Conduct user research that focuses on identifying mobile device-specific issues and always segment your data by device type to gather more laser-focused insights.
2. Leverage Analytics
Having a robust CRO mobile optimization strategy that is based on analytics is gold. Leverage tools like UXtweak and Google Analytics to drill down on device usage and potential issues affecting mobile conversion rates.
3. Understand Mobile Users’ Environment
Another great tactic when it comes to CRO mobile optimization strategies is understanding the environment in which mobile devices are being used and how this might differ from desktop usage. Recognize the implications that this might have on the purchasing behavior and tailor your CRO strategy accordingly.
4. Implement Quality Assurance Practices
Implementing a robust quality assurance practice can work wonders for your mobile CRO. Having a QA process in place will help you catch issues early in the process. On top of that, during this process, you can test how different pages render on different devices using software like Browserstack.
5. Optimize for Page Load Speed
As mentioned earlier page load speed times can make or break your mobile CRO so test rigorously and always prioritize fast-loading mobile pages in your optimization strategy.
6. Focus on Call-to-Actions
Calls to action are another great aspect to focus on when you are building your optimization strategy. Run A/B tests to assess the position, design, and microcopy of your call to action and draw conclusions about the impact of those elements on your mobile conversion rates.
7. Avoid Pop-Ups
Intrusive pop-ups do not have a place in a successful optimization strategy. Avoid using pop-ups in your efforts to covert more users as they can hurt the overall mobile user experience and result in users abandoning your mobile website or app instead.
8. Focus on Payment and Checkout Optimization
A good tactic when it comes to conducting successful mobile optimization plans that get results is focusing on the optimization of the payment and checkout processes. Try to simplify as soon as possible the user journey for mobile users by integrating digital wallets to reduce the steps of the process and improve the conversion rate.
Wrapping Up
In this ever-changing digital market, CRO mobile optimization is a quintessential practice for those organizations who seek to stay ahead of the curve. With mobile device users dominating the user experience landscape, failing to optimize for them can mean that you are missing out on a big chunk of customers.
Apart from higher conversion rates and more traffic, CRO mobile optimization can have a huge impact on the users’ perception of your brand. Highly optimized user experiences can be also perceived as a sustainable competitive advantage in this fierce market.
From optimizing for speedy load times to A/B testing your designs and paying extra attention to your checkout processes, there are a host of strategies to start experimenting with your CRO mobile optimization journey.
If you are not sure where to start, check out UXtweak and elevate your mobile conversion optimization game today!
