Mobile Websites: Is yours fit for purpose?

by David Dwyer on 04/10/2013

And do you make effective use of mobile specific call to actions?

One of the most important principles in marketing is the ‘call to action’. It’s how marketers ask potential customers to do what they want them to do: make a booking, buy a product, call for more information.

The ‘add to basket’ button on your favourite e-commerce site is a good example of a ‘call to action’ you probably come across every day without even noticing.

But increasing use of the smartphone as a search tool has made marketers and web designers think a little bit differently about what kinds of ‘calls to action’ should be used, as well as how they should be integrated into a mobile-friendly website.

By definition, people searching for information on their phones are able to make a phone call. Statistics also show that they’re likely to be looking for contact information rather than to buy something. Mobile customers want to know where a business is, how to get in touch with it, what services it offers, and if they can’t find what they want, to be able request further information or a call back easily and quickly.

Business owners should make sure their mobile sites do all of this, plus, as smartphones become increasingly used for commerce, make sure that they allow customers to purchase and compare products easily.

But don’t take my word for it. A recent study by Econsultancy showed that 43% of all Google searches have local intent; Google’s own Mobile Movement Study showed that 61% of mobile users call after a local business search. Taking all this together you can see why it’s important to make it as easy as possible for customers to get in touch or do business with you using their mobiles.

The best way to do this is by adding prominent and unmistakable ‘call to action’ buttons on your mobile website. A good example of a business doing just this is Lochty Garage of Perth (m.lochtygarage.com).

EXAMPLE MOBILE WEBSITE 1 Mobile Website Lochty Garage Services

When someone searching for a local garage finds Lochty, the design we’ve created makes it easy for him or her to call Lochty Garage by pressing one hard-to-miss button; if the user isn’t able to make their call at that precise moment, another big button saves Lochty’s details to the user’s address book so they can make their call later – helping the garage to retain that person’s custom. Other buttons take users directly to Lochty Garage’s services and location – in other words, just what the user is most likely to be looking for on their phone.

EXAMPLE MOBILE WEBSITE 2

Mobile Website for Brennans Bar and Nightclub

EXAMPLE MOBILE WEBSITE 3

Mobile Website for Plumbing & Heating Business

Digital Marketers Econsultancy make eight simple recommendations for the creation of effective mobile ‘calls to action’:

make them colourful
make them clear
make them big
make them easy to see
make the users act fast
make them work quickly
make the users call
make them work on different devices

At Inspire we follow a ninth golden rule for CTAs: ‘make them work for the customer’. Contact us today to find out how we can make them work for you. (And yes, that last sentence is a ‘call to action’ too!)

David Dwyer is Managing Director of Inspire Web Development. He has years of experience in a range of web and IT roles plus seven years in sales and marketing in a blue-chip FMCG company. David’s academic and professional qualifications include a BA (Hons) in Business Economics (Personnel) from the University of Paisley, an MSc in Information Technology (Systems) from Heriot-Watt University and PRINCE2 Practitioner-level certification. He is also an active member of the British Computer Society.

Digital Marketing, e-commerce, e-tailers, Inspire Web Development, Inspire Web Services, m-commerce, Mobile Commerce, Mobile Websites, Responsive Web Design, Technology Innovation, The Evolving Web, UI, User eXperience, User Interface, UX Design

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