Optimise your cross-device user experience

Do you know exactly how and where your customers are likely to discover you? Do you know how long it takes them to make the decision to buy from you – and how they buy?

It’s important to understand your customer. It’s equally important to understand their journey from their first touch-point through to the sale. That journey is likely to include multiple touch-points – across smartphones, tablets and desktops – as well as offline marketing. Understanding the role each device plays is critical to optimising your customer journey and improving your bottom line.

Mobile vs desktop

The user experience is split across multiple devices. We all know that from our own personal experience. We browse websites on our smartphones and tablets – either to find out information quickly (opening hours, phone number, address, reviews), or simply to pass the time.

How many of us actually convert on a mobile device though? Trying to fill in fiddly forms using tiny letters: We’re far more patient and willing to spend longer browsing a website on a desktop computer. Online traffic stats tell largely the same story: Pages viewed are higher, time spent on the site is higher – and conversion rates are higher.

To optimise your user experience, it’s imperative to understand how your target audience use your website:

• What percentage of visitors use mobile devices to access your website
• Is the user journey on a desktop different to the user journey on a mobile?
• Are they looking for information on a mobile device, or do they trigger a goal?
• If a goal is triggered, what is it? A form fill, a purchase, a phone call or something else?

A study by Think with Google revealed that 70% of mobile searchers use click to call, demonstrating that the telephone is an important channel for mobile consumers.

This makes call tracking a critical piece of the marketing puzzle.

Call tracking captures data not readily available in other analytics tools, providing you with more granular information about how these prospects find you, how they get in touch with you – and why – allowing you to improve the quality of your leads.

Currently, desktop versions of websites provide a fuller, more convenient experience than mobile versions in general. However, with mobile device use increasing and improvements in the way mobile sites are being developed, this is evolving. Users could soon become more comfortable making purchases from mobile sites.

Invest in the right tools and learn more about your customers’ journeys on your site. Use call tracking technology and the data it provides to help shape your mobile and desktop strategy, optimising the cross-device experience for your customers.