How A High Performance Mobile Site Can Improve Your Bottom Line?

Time spent by consumers on the mobile web has increased an astonishing 575% in a span of three years, from 2017-2019. On average, people are spending 143 minutes a day on mobile devices, and this number is set to hit 150 minutes by 2021. The ease of use and accessibility of mobile devices means that consumers use their devices for everything they need;  from product research and online shopping on a mobile site to video streaming. In fact, mobile web traffic accounts for 52.6% of global web traffic.

Smartphones have irrevocably become an extension of the modern-day consumer. The mobile device is the easiest route for businesses to reach their target audience. This is a fact that businesses can not afford to ignore. A high-performance mobile site has become imperative for businesses, as it can dramatically improve the bottom line. Business leaders can no longer put their mobile strategy on the back-burner.

For greater reach and visibility, responsive web design for a multitude of devices, ranging from smartphones to desktops, is a necessity for business expansion. These responsive designs must have faster loading times, as slow speed is a conversion killer. Customers are turned off by slow mobile page speed. This leads to a higher bounce rate, fewer page views and lower order values. 

The effect of mobile site speed on a business’s bottom line

A study commissioned by Google and conducted by Deloitte, measured the positive of mobile speed on various performance metrics, through the observation of 37 leading European and American brands, across four sectors; retail, travel, luxury, and lead generation. The study observed the following improvements to engagement and conversion funnel progress, based on a 0.1 second site speed improvement-

• Mobile site speed improvements had a direct correlation to improved funnel progression.
• Retail consumers were most sensitive to speed in the pre-checkout stages of their conversion journey.
• An 8.4% increase in conversions with retail consumers were observed, and an increase in average order value of 9.2%. 
• A 10.1% increase in conversions with travel consumers was observed, and a slight increase in the average order value of 1.9%.
• An 8% increase in page views per session was measured for luxury sites.
• The highest homepage bounce rate improvement of 6.5% was in the travel vertical. 
• Lead generation informational pages bounce rate improved by 8.3%.
• Bounce rates on product listing pages in retail and travel improved by 5.7% and 5.4% respectively.
• Retail customer engagement increased by 5.2%.

Good customer experience is directly correlated with speed performance. Each second matters here. Greater delay in page response means greater probability of driving your customers to your competitors. It has been proven that faster mobile sites have the potential to encourage customers to stay longer and purchase more. The potential sales value of a good mobile experience is essential for sustainable revenue and business growth.

Common problems customers face when accessing a website from a mobile device

According to Kissmetrics statistics, 60% of mobile internet users face at least one problem in a span of 12 months, while browsing from their mobile devices. Some common problems that customers face with mobile websites include-

• 73% of mobile internet users say that they have encountered a website that’s too slow to load.
• 51% of mobile internet users say that they have encountered a website that either crashed, froze or received an error.
• 48% of mobile internet users say that they have encountered a website with formats which made the content difficult to read.
• 45% of mobile internet users say that they have encountered a website that did not function as per expectations.
• 38% of mobile internet users say that they have encountered a website that wasn’t available.

Addressing the pain points of mobile internet users can enhance the user experience, creating a more positive brand experience for the customers. Thus, it can help companies to generate better customer engagement and build greater brand loyalty.

Steps to incorporate to improve mobile site speed

Switch to a premium web hosting service to enhance loading time.
Enable browser caching to reduce loading time from 2.4 (with an empty browser cache) to 0.9 seconds (with a full browser cache) on average.

• Enable image compression in the right format to optimize mobile speed.
• Minimise HTTP requests as they are one of the biggest hindrances to speed
• Optimise large volumes of full-size images in the right format to maximize performance.
• Minify HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to decrease loading time.
• Minimise redirects to improve mobile page speed as it creates additional HTTP requests.
• Remove unused code to reduce lag.
• Utilise GZIP compression to reduce file size.
• Usage of SSD (Solid State Drives) can boost performance and increase load speed by times when compared to HDD.
• Using a CDN (Content Delivery Network) can reduce lag and improve mobile web performance.

Final Thoughts

Mobile sites are an incredible opportunity for organizations to grow their business. A solid mobile marketing strategy is necessary for businesses to tap into the mobile market effectively. At Alkye, we help our clients to create and optimize responsive websites for both mobile and desktops that can improve their customer engagement and conversion rates, which is an important driver for growing the bottom line.