April 19, 2012
By Jason Wells
The rules for mobile landing page optimization and standard landing page optimization are fundamentally different. The goals are different. The metrics use to track success of landing page conversion are different. Heck, even the definition of “conversion” is different.
Mobile landing page optimization is a different world. Of course, you have to ensure that your pages are mobile ready. They should be compatible with Android 2.x and iOS 3.x and later.
But beyond the tech guidelines, there are other basic rules to remember and steps to implement as you create a mobile landing page. Here they are.
1. Mobile users want instant gratification
Mobile users want to immediately call, buy, download or visit. Quick. Quick. Quick. They are not doing research. They want something that will immediately solve their problem. Research shows that 90 percent of mobile searches lead to action.
2. Define your goal
Is it lead generation, application download, immediate purchase, phone call generation or coupon redemption? The answer to this question will define the type of landing page you create.
In standard landing page creation, lead-gen or immediate purchase is the most common goal.
Marketers traditionally seek to gather as much information as possible and then either call the prospect or, at the very least, get the prospect into a nurture email list of some sort. Traditionally, that is how we have all defined a “conversion” – getting someone to fill out a form.
Mobile is different.
The goal should be to generate immediate action—a phone call, a text message or a visit.
Keep in mind that phone calls or text messages are the most natural actions for mobile users. After all, they are using a mobile phone. If those are most natural actions, then a marketer’s natural goals should be the same.
3. Define your metrics
If your goal is to generate a phone call or send them a coupon, then you need to have tools in place that measure those things.
Most online analytics platforms can track online coupon redemption. As for calls, call-tracking offerings measure calls generated via mobile landing pages and other forms of mobile marketing. Remember: conversions do not necessarily mean a downloaded white paper anymore.
4. Simplify your call to action
Traditionally, marketers want the prospect to fill out several fields of information—name, title, phone number, email address and even number of employees.
Mobile landing pages should not ask for this much information. There should be headline, maybe two sentences of text, a phone number and, if you must, a place to input a phone number and/or an email address.
That is it. Two fields of information maximum. Keep it short.
5. Headline length of three to five words
Because of the size limitations of mobile screens, headline length should be extremely short.
For example, if your goal is to get their email address so you can email them a coupon, the headline on a mobile landing page might be “Get 15% Off.” If your goal is to generate phone calls, the headline might be “Call Us Now.”
Short and to the point.
6. Keep content concise
The most optimized mobile landing pages have a couple of bullet points of explanatory text. That is it. They should not even be actual sentences. They should be quick bullet points that get straight to the heart of your offer or invitation.
IN MANY WAYS, mobile landing page optimization rules differ totally from standard landing page optimization.
To recap, the goals are different. A “conversion” is different. The way you gather information is different. The amount of information gathered is different and the tools to measure success are different.
Mobile landing page optimization is a brave new world and, frankly, many in the industry are still figuring it out.
It appears, though, that coupon redemption, SMS text back and phone calls are the most common mobile landing page actions and the actions that marketers can most easily generate.
Follow these six steps and you will be well on your way to optimizing your mobile landing page.
Jason Wells is CEO of ContactPoint, the developer of LogMyCalls.com, St. George, UT. Reach him at jason@contactpoint.com.
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