How to build a mobile eCommerce website for better conversions? The yardstick for a great e-commerce website is a straightforward path to finding things and an excellent customer experience at every touchpoint.With mobile devices accounting for 50% of internet traffic and 56% of eCommerce sales, you can’t afford to create a desktop-optimized eCommerce website without considering mobile device users.
Easier said than done, right? Here’s how to build a website that creates mobile-friendly experiences so you can get more conversions.
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1. Choose a Responsive Web Design
A responsive web design changes how it looks based on your device. It also adjusts to the screen size, platform, and orientation you have.
That means your eCommerce website applications and their pages should work well on any device, no matter the screen size or technology used.
To check whether your design is responsive:
- Go to Google’s Mobile-friendly Test page. This page tells you whether your page is mobile-friendly and includes a screenshot of how Google sees your page and a rendered HTML.
- Consult a web designer to help you make it better.
- Add the viewport meta tag. This tag enables your website to adapt correctly to various screen sizes.
Remember, adapting it to fit mobile screens shouldn’t increase page load time.
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2. Optimize Page Load Time
Page load time is when it takes for all its contents to appear on the screen. Many factors affect page load time, including the type, user behavior, file sizes, website server, and the number of plugins.
According to Google, if a web page takes longer than 3 seconds to load, it’s 32% more likely that people will leave. Experts recommend that your page load time should be under two seconds.
You can reduce your page load time to under two seconds by doing a few things. First, choose a host that optimizes your pages for performance. Ideally, keep off a cheap hosting solution because it is often overcrowded and ultimately causes your pages to drag.
Secondly, use the right image formats and sizes. Plugins like WP Smush can help you resize your images to reduce page load time.
Alternatively, use tools such as Kraken.io to resize your images without washing down the quality.
Thirdly, reduce your redirects. Furthermore, each redirect adds weight to your eCommerce mobile application pages and will affect how quickly they load. Also, the best way to reduce redirects is to avoid creating too many and ensure your Top-Level Domain (TLD) resolves with a maximum of one redirection.
Lastly, do some housekeeping by removing outdated content on your eCommerce web applications.
3. Provide Easy Thumb Navigation
Statistics found interesting details about how different mobile phone users browse on their phones. 49% held phones with one hand, 36% held them in one hand and tapped with the finger or thumb of the other, while 15% held it with both hands, tapping both thumbs. However, 75% of users touch the screen with just one thumb.
This data proves thumb navigation is a primary need among users. Also, it would help if you accommodated other users by creating a navigation that works for all.
It’s best to put the main buttons for moving around the app at the bottom so it’s easier for your thumbs to reach them. The extra options can also go near the top of the screen.
4. Incorporate Audio Search
Beyond texting, voice search is an easy go-to when eCommerce web applications users don’t want to spend time typing away on the search bar. By tapping into voice search, you tap into the audience segment that prefers voice search to look for products and services.
Voice search also helps in garnering organic traffic. Most folks don’t search with their voice like typed words. Instead, they use language that’s more like how they talk to others. Google found a new way to understand what people search for. Now its search results are more related to what people ask for, even if they talk naturally.
You can get more from audio searches by adopting more longtail keywords in your content.
5. Test your Mobile eCommerce Website Applications Performance
Regular testing will help you fix issues before you lose out on customers. Luckily, there are also tons of tools to help you test your website.
For example, Google PageSpeed Insights gives you reports on the user experience of a page for mobile and desktop devices and recommends actions to improve it.
Lighthouse offers more than just UX reports. It provides insights on accessibility, SEO, and other aspects to improve your site.
WebPageTest checks the user experience of your website from different places and devices. You get reports on speed, performance, and other factors that make the user experience good.
6. Integrate Mobile Payment Options
Make it easy for your customers to buy from your website by offering mobile payment options. This will improve their experience and increase their chances of purchasing.
Mobile payments are like debit cards. You need to create an account and give personal info. This gets attached to an e-wallet.
To make it easier for your customers, offer several choices in order of popularity. This ensures they can easily find their preferred option. This way, you improve the customer experience and reduce the cart abandonment rate.
Stay Up-to-Date with Mobile-Friendly eCommerce Best Practices
Want to succeed in eCommerce, especially in building a website? Stay updated on best practices, changing customer needs, and how tech affects them.
Two best practices have stood the test of time. The first one is to keep things simple. The more work, a user, has to put in to access your website, the less interested they will be. The second one is making your site attractive. Humans are drawn to captivating visuals, and that may never change.
Lastly
Finally, work with a mobile-first approach. Trends indicate mobile device use has an advantage over desktop. Make a mobile version and optimize it for desktops instead of making a desktop version and then shrinking it for mobile.
You can improve your eCommerce business by partnering with an eCommerce development team.
Practical Logix has helped many eCommerce businesses improve user experiences and drive conversions. We streamline their user interactions online, implement the best payment systems, and incorporate the appropriate data and tracking tools. We also tailor our solution to your unique needs. Learn more.
