This month Google has unveiled its latest update, aimed at improving the web browsing experience for its mobile users. Fine, you say, but what’s that got to do with me?
Quite a lot actually, as the way it’s improving that experience is by pushing those websites that are mobile-friendly further up the search rankings, and casting down those that are more difficult to use on mobile devices.
Recent research by PwC forecast that by 2017, 25% of all UK online retail sales will be made via tablet or smartphone, so all ecommerce businesses need to ensure that their websites are mobile-friendly going forwards, or risk losing search rankings and sales.
Part of this is a design issue but the mobile-friendliness of your ecommerce copywriting will also play a key role.
What is mobile-friendly ecommerce copywriting?
Your content remains a major driver of both traffic and sales in mobile ecommerce.
As well as affecting your position in the search engine results pages, how mobile-friendly your content is will also help to determine whether a visitor will stay on your page and make a purchase, or click back on their browser, never to return.
By making sure that your content is optimised for mobile devices, then you can gain more traffic and additional conversions.
So what makes ecommerce copywriting user-friendly? Mobile-friendly web content is:
- Easy to read
- Easy to scan for information
- Relatively short
A good ecommerce copywriter will be able to shape your content to fulfil these goals.
The pillars of mobile ecommerce copywriting
Creating content which is suitable for mobile devices and users can be broken down into an exact science. Here are the key tenets of copywriting for mobile ecommerce that you can employ across your web presence:
Concise
When people are browsing the internet on their smartphone, they often have a limited amount of time. Whereas if they’re sitting at a desktop computer they might be whiling away an hour on online shopping, on their phone it’s more likely that they’re killing time while waiting for the bus, or doing a little speculative online shopping during a tea break at work.
You should adapt your mobile content to this fact by making it a little shorter, and getting in everything you need to say within a relatively short word count.
Scannable
Mobiles and tablets have much smaller screens than desktop and laptop computers, so you need to make your content extra easy on the eye and the brain. As well as keeping your
Mobiles and tablets have much smaller screens than desktop and laptop computers, so you need to make your content extra easy on the eye and the brain. As well as keeping your product descriptions short and to the point, you can make them easier to read by including:
Subheaders
These should be descriptive of what the user will find written below, for example ‘technical specifications’ or ‘sizes available’.
Bullet points
These break key information about a product into easily digestible chunks.
Short paragraphs
Overly long paragraphs or sentences can make it harder to read text on a mobile device. Keep them short and snappy.
Lively
People use their mobiles to be entertained as well as to buy things. If your content is dull they’ll likely swipe it away before you even get a chance to sniff a sale.
If it’s upbeat, entertaining and full of personality, they’ll stick around and will also be more likely to come back.
Conclusion
In light of this new Google update, all ecommerce businesses need to assess their ecommerce content for its mobile viability.
But with so many people now buying products from their mobile phones, would it really make sense not to make a special effort to cater to these consumers anyway?
What are your thoughts about mobile-friendly ecommerce copywriting?
Is it really a big deal?
Let us know what you think by leaving a comment down below. 🙂
About the Author
Chris Glithero is a UK copywriter at Big Star Copywriting, a Devon-based copywriting agency that creates content for top brands around the world. He frequently blogs about content marketing, copywriting, search engine optimisation and other matters relating to the ever-expanding world of online marketing.
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Ecommerce Copywriting
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