Mobile sites :how to fire them up!

2 Questions have been throbbing in my mind lately as these are the major points of focus on job right now :

1. As Mobile traffic scales up - how to ensure it converts successfully too ?
2. And Is after all the efforts - conversion a metric meant for mobile site ?

Summing up -  how to build a mobile site which is most optimized for your users?

This blog will attempt to answer this question in depth through an example

Why Mobile is Important ?

Mobile traffic is witnessing high growth - several reports can affirm that : Current shopping trends say 2014 is the first time mobile devices have overtaken desktop traffic with 52% of total footfalls & 36% of total transactions.

As mobile traffic scales up  - the need for an OPTIMIZED mobile presence goes without saying. As a product manager it is very difficult as the tenets of mobile are still being laid down. As per me - Mobile is a case study in itself - at least for me.

I will try to think upon the questions mentioned in the beginning through taking a case study of a site e.g. "DoctorTalk.com" - this is a fictitious site that I have created for the purpose of this blog .

DoctorsTalk.com = Is a site to help you find best doctors around you. Focused on user forums- where threads to take reviews or suggestions on specific diseases or doctors can be created. So its basically driven by UGC

To be a optimized mobile site this is how site can approach - 

1. Site needs to connect to users in max 3 seconds.

Mobile is a device used in urgency - and we have to accept the fact that users are not comfortable with it - They in all probability don't want to spend much time on it. Your site metrics will show you that too.

Repeat user

• Would like to check updates on the go - If he has already posted a query.In case he gets any new responses on same he should get to know them on landing on m site
• One click Posting as he should be already logged in - quicker postings or quicker reviews on any doctor on the go - Any new threads that have started in a category similar to what he has already engaged in to be prioritized.

New User

should be told what your site has . New user could be further divided into -

• Focused - probability that you will get a focused user on your m site is very high - because of the nature of the mobile site usage
• Browsing user  : 20-30% of user set may be just browsing the site - because she got a reference from somewhere probably

You could understand whether you have a focused user or browsing user by the split of traffic you get on the mobile - Do you get lot of organic traffic ?  - which means you ned to analyse the keywords users are using to get to your site - are they long tailed which means - users already have a fair good idea of what they want - and are thus focused users.

OR

Is your direct traffic high- which means they are aware of your brand and can belong to both of the categries above. Again the nature of your business will decide what segment you will get most. For a "doctor talk" kind of website possibility that you will get a browsing user will be very low. So consider that your focus should be to provide these New+Focused users the things they need in the first 3 seconds.

2.  Switching between devices is an important use case :

Doctortalk should know that desktop is a preferred mode of research & for final take user would like to go to desktop. It can enable following features :

- Enable saving results or threads - adding to your bucket list - which one can access through loggin in - or are sent to users mailbox.
- In future this section should remain in sync for both desktop & Mobile

3. Include relevant content - which can help user to decide:

While #1 covers the basics and- #2 above too talks about engagement.
here #3 is targeted at conversion.

If your aim through mobile is to help users convert - then you should provide all possible details so that decision making is smooth.

One quote I read somewhere is important "Make your mobile site so smooth & full of relevant content" that they don't feel the need to go to desktop or tablet to decide.

- Provide KEY details above the fold - keep cal to actions well integrated with the main content.

- Also provide optional details - in case user wants to view. You again don't want him to think you are not giving him enough. e.g. for DoctorTalk provide the doctor reviews which are voted most helpful.

4. Mobile is different from desktop.

Features that makes mobile sites different from desktop are - which mobile site needs to cater to compulsively & also take advantage of :

1. Direct Call
2. GPS - ability
3. Media works better
4. Sharing content.

Above are just the starting pointers when thinking how to model your website to mobile site. But as per me are mandatory inclusions.

Hope you found this content interesting. Please leave your remarks & extra cents of advice in the comments section below ! Thanks for reading.