Mobile user engagement: How can your business increase it?

Featured article by Jaqueline Dubois, Independent Technology Author

People are now using their mobile devices to complete more and more tasks each day. There are an estimated three billion smartphone users across the world using their devices to make purchases and to book tickets. It is therefore vital that modern businesses are equipped to cater for existing and potential customers. Businesses cannot afford to ignore mobile users and the increased revenue they can bring to a company.

One slight issue around mobile users has always been ways to increase their engagement. Many individuals do spend less time on websites when surfing via a mobile device. That can be for a variety of reasons such as only having a few minutes to surf the web on a work break. The key for success is to fully engage mobile users thereby increasing your retention rates.

But how can this be done?

Develop a stand-out mobile app

Mobile apps help consumers use your service in the most convenient way on their tablet or smartphone – that makes the apps a real no-brainer for all companies. The issue though is that consumers often download an app and then only use it once or not at all! To increase mobile user engagement you need to have an app that works seamlessly, and that stands out from the competition. One that will keep people coming back for more. It must not only look good but also be easy to view and navigate on a mobile phone screen and have superb UXD.

Think about your page speeds

Did you know that just a one second delay in page speed could see your conversion rate drop by 7%?! The simple fact is that modern consumers will not wait very long for web pages to load and they expect lighting fast speeds on your mobile website. It is estimated that over half of mobile users will bounce from a site if pages take more than three seconds to load. It is therefore essential to maintain a fast load speed through caching, implementing CSS style sheets and AMP code.

Check out your checkout

One big danger can be your site’s checkout process on mobile devices. To drive more user engagement from mobile phones or tablets, review your system and ensure it is quick and pain free for the users. Any bumps in the road here will see them leave and head to a competitor. As well as ensuring there are as few steps as possible to buy goods, it is also worth thinking about offering alternative payment solutions like e-payment providers. This can help build the trust needed to fully engage along the whole customer journey.

Increasing mobile user engagement is key

As more and more people continue to engage with businesses via their mobile devices, looking after their needs becomes paramount. The above tips give some great ways to do this from developing a cool app to making a few important changes to the mobile version of your website. With these in place, you should be well on the way to leveraging greater engagement for the users and much better retention rates. Before long, the dreaded ‘Bounce’ effect will be a distant memory!