It’s a common issue that a mobile website has a lower conversion rate than the desktop version, due to a range of factors. However, since some people are spending up to 70% of their time on mobile, there’s the opportunity for marketers to gain additional revenue if the conversion rate levels were the same.
A recent report showed that mobile conversion rates are 47% of the levels achieved on desktop devices. As more and more customers are using mobile devices it’s therefore necessary to ensure your mobile conversion rate is keeping up and to maintain your revenue by improving the performance of your mobile site.
Mobile and desktop conversion rates are influenced by two main parameters. The first is traffic influencers which can be things like channel mix, marketing campaign, seasonality. The second is the performance of the website – for example, user experience and site speed. Any of these can cause your mobile or desktop conversion rate to go up or down.
One way you can monitor your mobile website performance is by reviewing your Relative Mobile Conversion Rate (Rel mCvR), which is calculated by dividing the mobile conversion rate with the desktop conversion rate. For example, a mobile conversion rate of 1.79% / a desktop conversion rate of 4.44% = 40% Rel mCvR.
The benefit of using Rel mCvR to evaluate your mobile performance is that traffic influencers tend to not impact the metric because the same campaigns and seasonalities will reach both mobile and desktop versions of the website. A good marketing campaign will make both the mobile and desktop conversion rate go up but leave Rel mCvR stable. When you evaluate the Relative metric over time (instead of just the straight mobile CvR), it will show if the mobile website has been improved.
However, there are some things to keep in mind when evaluating Rel mCvR, such as:
- Always keep an eye on your desktop conversion rate. If Rel mCvR has an abnormal peak, check if it’s due to the desktop having a technical problem that made the desktop conversion rate decrease.
- Track your Rel mCvR weekly because the metric is based on your entire website’s performance and driving improvement will take time. Reviewing your data daily can be too volatile, so look for the large movements over time instead.
- Be mindful that companies with physical stores may never reach 100% in Rel mCvR, as mobile is often used for doing research before or while visiting a store. 70% is a good target to start with.
- A better user experience on the mobile site leads to increased revenue and better Rel mCvR. To improve this, it’s best to start A/B testing on the mobile site to improve the mobile conversion rate.
It’s through A/B tests that you become guided by customers and provide what they need. When there’s a strong focus on improving the mobile site with conversion optimisation and A/B tests, the Rel mCvR will start to show your progress and will ultimately produce more revenue.
If you’d like to know more about how A/B testing a mobile site may be impacted by your Google Ads and SEO campaigns, please contact us for further details.