25 Ways to Improve Mobile Sales for Your Small Business

Several years ago, Google reported that the number of mobile web searches surpassed desktop searches, and as the years go by, mobile use is expected to become even more prominent. The fact is that we can take our smartphones and tablets everywhere that desktops and even laptops can’t go. So long as there is network access, there will be people browsing mobile websites and using apps, not just for fun but for serious work as well.

Consider the following:

• The average adult spent 51% of their Internet browsing time on mobile devices in 2015
• 75.1% of people in the US are expected to use the Internet via mobile devices by end of 2015
• Mobile e-commerce sales are expected to reach $112.18 billion this year, up from $83.93 billion in 2014

These statistics make one thing clear: mobile marketing is essential for small businesses to stay competitive in the marketplace. Here are 25 ways that you can improve mobile sales for your small business.

1. Place emphasis on images. People retain 80% of the images that they see compared to only 20% of the things that they read.
2. Cut your bounce rate by keeping pages simple, uncluttered, and easy to read.
3. Bounce rates go up for every second that users wait for a page to load—up to 30% if a page takes more than 6-10 seconds to load. Do everything you can to keep load times low.
4. Make browsing tools easy to use. This should include an obvious search tool, easy access to FAQ pages, and a variety of filters so that browsers can sort products.
5. Small screens need pages that are easy to navigate. Make sure your buttons are large enough to tap on a tiny mobile screen and that there is plenty of space around links.
6. Don’t rely too heavily on icons. While many people recognize the icons for search bars, according to the Nielson Norman Group, many still struggle with the meaning of stars, hearts, and the three-line “hamburger” menu icon (displayed as ≡).
7. On a PC, browsers can always mouse over elements to see whether they’re clickable or not. Since mobile users don’t have this convenience, make sure that your interaction cues (the clickable bits) are crystal clear.
8. Ensure that your website has all the information mobile shoppers need—not only product listings, but also store locations, directions, hours of operation, phone numbers and email addresses or contact forms.
9. Speaking of pertinent information, make sure that wherever you list your company’s phone number, it uses the tap-to-call feature. Here’s how important this is: 47% of users will consider looking elsewhere if they can’t call you directly from your mobile site.
10. Definitely use responsive design. Websites with responsive design are made to adapt to any screen size, which is an important feature in today’s world of phones, tablets, laptops and desktops. In fact, 40% of visitors to a website will leave if it’s not mobile friendly.
11. People who are browsing on mobiles are very likely to be on-the-go locals looking for businesses like yours. Make yourself easy to find, not only on social media, but also by verifying yourself on sites like Google Maps, Yelp, and more.
12. The Nielson Norman Group tells us that consistency is one of the most essential elements of any marketing strategy. This means that your mobile website or app should have the same visual style and tone as your desktop site so that users aren’t confused as to whether it’s the same business.
13. Consider whether you truly need to spend money on app development. For simple tasks, like product listings, users are unlikely to download an app. However, if you want to provide an all-in-one experience, complete with online payment options, wish lists, deal notifications, and more, an app might be the way to go.
14. If you do develop an app, go easy on the push notifications. Users appreciate notifications for sales, coupons or major new releases, but they’re likely to delete the app if it constantly updates them of every little change you make.
15. Test pages to make sure that they display properly on mobile interfaces. You can get started for free with Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test.
16. Shopify found that between 2014 and 2015, orders from shoppers who discovered products on social media rose by 202%. With so many people browsing social media from their phones, your social marketing strategy needs to be optimized for mobile, too.
17. Considering how many leads come from shoppers browsing on social media, take advantage of things like “Buy Now” buttons on Facebook, Pinterest and the other platforms that offer them.
18. Whether your shoppers are at home or in a crowded public place, they definitely don’t want to spend more time than absolutely necessary entering payment information into your mobile site. Take advantage of services like PayPal or Google Wallet to simplify the payment process, or at the very least, minimize the number of fields your mobile users will need to complete on the checkout page.
19. As many as 17% of all shoppers abandon shopping carts at the checkout page because of security concerns. Make sure your mobile checkout displays security logos, lock icons, contact information, links to frequently asked questions, and other elements that will help inspire your audience’s trust.
20. Skip banner ads and popups on your mobile website. These things take up too much precious screen real estate, they’re often frustrating to navigate through, and because of factors like banner blindness, they’re likely to be ignored anyway.
21. Definitely spend some of your marketing budget on usability testing. Websites like Amazon’s Mechanical Turk can help you get real feedback affordably, while services like UserZoom offer complete usability testing packages.
22. Many customers browse on the way to work or during their lunch hour, but wait until they get home to a computer to make the purchase. You can increase sales conversions by letting customers save wish lists in their account or emailing their shopping cart to them so that they can pick up where they left off as they switch between mobile and desktop platforms.
23. Keep in mind that your mobile site doesn’t need to include absolutely everything that your desktop site does. Fight back against clutter by prioritizing only those things that mobile users definitely want to see: products, frequently asked questions, and perhaps content like blogs that are designed to be consumed in small doses.
24. Data from the Pew Research Center shows that 88% of people check email at least once per week via their phones. This means that not only does your website need to be mobile-friendly, but your email campaigns do, too.
25. Consider expanding your mobile marketing strategy with an SMS campaign. Up to 98% of all text messages sent are read by the recipient and 83% percent of those are read no more than three minutes after you’ve sent them. Sending deals and sale alerts via SMS is a smart way to reach an amazingly broad audience.

No matter how great a mobile marketing strategy is, there is always room for a little more improvement. Use these tips to see how you can boost sales through your mobile marketing efforts.