Tag Archives: website

Using Mobile Optimization To Improve Your Website

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A man and women standing back to back looking at their smartphones

What Is Mobile Optimization?

Alice is looking for an auto shop to repair her car. A friend recommends a great local business, so Alice pulls out her phone and Googles the company. She clicks on its website to learn more about its services, rates, and locations. The page takes a few seconds to load, and even when it does, the website is clunky. The layout is skewed, images aren’t loading, and it’s hard to find the menu or a contact form. Alice abandons the website altogether and looks for another reputable auto shop.

This is where mobile optimization comes in. With mobile optimization, website content changes to adapt to the mobile device. It is scaled according to the screen size and eliminates unnecessary elements, like Flash videos and large images. This is different from being mobile-friendly, which means that the website displays accurately on smaller screens (e.g. contact information that initiates an email or a call when clicked).

Why Should You Care About Mobile Optimization?

In 2021, over 60% of organic search engine visits in the United States were made using mobile devices. Many users research companies, products, and services before making purchasing decisions. The use of smartphones in that process is increasing. For instance, Google mobile searches with the term “best” increased by over 80% in 24 months. As mobile use increases, so does the importance of mobile optimization.

Google’s algorithm ranking has switched to mobile-first indexing. This means it prefers mobile-optimized content and ranks those websites higher in the search results. Having an optimized mobile website can reduce bounce rates and increase traffic, leads, and conversion rates. Plus users are more likely to return to your website in the future if the mobile experience was good!

How Can You Optimize Your Website For Mobile Devices?

Responsive design plays an integral role in mobile optimization. You want your website to have a clean, minimal design that adapts to the screen of the user. This could mean layout changes, smaller images, a change in font size, and more. Streamlining the content and navigation of your website will help with this as well. A smaller screen means limited space, so the focus should be concise messaging that encourages action. Additionally, the placement of the navigation bar affects how users interact with your website. Changing it from a top bar to a hamburger button can improve navigability. At the very least, the navigation button should be noticeable and consistent throughout the mobile site.

Thumb zone on mobile devices. Three phone screens. One for the left hand reach. One for the right hand reach. One for left and right hands combined.
Source: Plerdy

When you are setting up your responsive design, it’s important to keep the Thumb Zone in mind. The screen size, finger size, and hand the phone is held in differ by person. Essential interface elements should be within thumb reach for ease of use. For instance, the menu button, as well as the menu that drops down, need to be within thumb reach. If you’re unsure of where to place items on your mobile website, using a heatmap can help. Heatmaps can show you how users browse on the mobile version, where they click, what problems are occurring, and how to remove obstacles.

Loading speed is another major factor in mobile optimization. 53% of visitors will abandon your website if it takes more than 3 seconds to load. That’s over HALF of your potential customers! Optimizing your images can help with this, among other things. Google’s mobile website speed test can identify areas of improvement, as well as show how your website compares to your competitors.

Other optimizations include:

  • Minimizing pop-ups by focusing on the campaigns that can be embedded in the content of your website. If you do include a pop-up, make sure it is easy to close (i.e. clearly visible “X”) and that it isn’t covering important information.
  • Including local SEO and keywords throughout your site. Mobile searches using the phrase “near me” have increased by over 300% in the last few years.
  • Using keywords in your meta titles and descriptions. These are your first impressions in the search results. Let the user know what to expect from your site.

The Takeaway

With over 60% of organic searches occurring on mobile devices, mobile optimization is becoming increasingly important. Taking the time to ensure your website is optimized can lead to higher search engine rankings, increased website traffic, a better user experience, and higher conversion rates.

If you need help optimizing your mobile website, we can help! Reach out to us with any questions, concerns, or support you need to give your website a refreshing edge.

Refreshing Edge Podcast Season 2 Is Here!

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In the first episode of our much-anticipated Season 2, Megan and Nicholas are back with big updates and new ideas for our listeners. Tune in as we discuss what we’ve had going on in the last year, what’s next in store for Refreshing Edge, and the unveiling of our newest segment called “Ask Megan and Nicholas!”

All that and more on another exciting episode of the Refreshing Edge Podcast!

Enjoy!

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E-Commerce vs. Online Marketplaces: Which is Better for Your Business?

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In light of the Etsy strike, it’s important to discuss diversifying your sales and why having both an Etsy shop and an e-commerce website – as well as selling through social media marketplaces – is beneficial. Similar to having a marketing strategy outside of social media, you need to have multiple sales strategies for your online business. Let’s go over each so you are better informed on your options going forward!

Etsy Marketplace has a trustworthy reputation, and overall the platform is reliable. It is free and easy to set up, so you can get started selling right away! However, there are listing and selling fees, meaning when you add a product to your shop and when you sell a product, fees are incurred. Additionally, it lacks customizability, so you have limited brand awareness. You have a greater potential for reach and exposure, but the site is highly competitive, so it’s crucial that your SEO is spot on in order to be found. 

An e-commerce website, such as WordPress or Shopify, takes time and money to set up and maintain, but it is fully customizable and you have more control over branding and shop policies. There’s no overhead on your individual products, just payments to register the domain name and keep your website up.

Similar to Etsy, social media marketplaces (Facebook Marketplace, Instagram Shopping, Google Shopping, etc.) are easy to sell on and easy to set up, especially if you already have an active audience there. However, competition is high and it’s easy to get lost in the abyss. Additionally, there are fees for each sale made.

Having an e-commerce site as well as selling in online marketplaces is beneficial because if one shop goes down, you have a backup option and can keep your business running. Or, in the case of Etsy, if fees increase more than you are comfortable with, you can pivot your strategy to focus on your e-commerce website and other marketplaces instead. Ultimately, it comes down to not having your eggs all in one basket and doing what works best for your business.

If you need help with your e-commerce website or have any questions about selling online, reach out to us today for more information.

3 Reasons Why Your Ads Are Underperforming

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If you have encountered ads that are underperforming, it can be frustrating to not see a return on investment. Even after giving your account proper time to optimize, there are a few common reasons for underperformance that can hinder your success.

1. Your Campaign and Website Pages Are Not Aligning

Be sure that when linking your ads, they direct to a specific landing page for consumers to easily convert. The home page has all the generic information about the business, but a landing page is better optimized and customizable for conversions. Once you have an established landing page, make sure that your campaign descriptions, headlines, and landing pages have seamless messaging that all compliments each other. This allows for a consumer to resonate with your service or products all the way from web searches, clicking on the ad, and through the website experience.

2. Call to Action is Not Clear

The call to action in your ad needs to match up with the ad copy, along with a relevant landing page. Be sure to show the benefit of your product or service, how you differ from competitors, and implement an easy process for customers to move through the purchase funnel of awareness, interest desire, + action.

3. Budget Is Constrained

Having a low budget that is less than the recommended amount can prevent you from getting traffic. Make sure you are allocating at least $20/day PER campaign to be able to scale and optimize your campaigns properly.

If you are having issues and need support navigating your ads, reach out to us today for more information.

Cutting Edge Earned Media Strategies

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Although brand and agency PR and earned media efforts have been rocky over the past couple of years, that doesn’t mean that you won’t be able to see a great ROI in 2022 with these trends.

Affiliate Marketing 

You’ll want to make sure you have a solid affiliate marketing strategy for 2022. Because of COVID-19, it is no surprise that businesses are investing a lot in their digital affiliate marketing programs. The popularity of influencer marketing has seen its highest jump since 2015. 

If you’re not looking to break a budget trying to reach large influencers with huge audiences, micro and nano influencers are currently dominating the affiliate market as they continue to grow their loyal audiences. 

Podcasts 

Podcasts are becoming a great earned media strategy as more and more people use them to listen to shared stories or to learn more information while being easily accessible. 80% of podcast listeners listen to all or most of an episode from their favorite people. It is a great tool to hone in your target audience. 

Decentralized PR

The days of journalists depending on one source for press releases and mass media blasts are over. 

Decentralized PR allows the use of corporate social media and personal profiles to share important news. This helps foster direct and more personable connections with the consumers on those platforms. 

If you need any help navigating new trends or earned media strategies, reach out to us today for more information.