Design the Right Landing Page for Mobile Devices

In May of last year, Google announced that a greater number of the searches in the U.S. using its search engine come from a mobile device than from a computer. 

This is important for remodeling companies to know when thinking about their online presence. When a person is searching the web from a computer, they’re in a deliberative mindset and are more likely to focus on text for a longer period of time. But when consumers are using a mobile device, their attention span drops considerably. Text becomes more cumbersome and often isn’t read. Behavioral researchers have called this the “micro-moment” mindset.

Answering the Challenge

Remodelers need to design a website that works both for deliberative and micro-moment mindset audiences. The solution: responsive web design that creates a cascading style sheet capable of displaying designs for multiple devices and screen sizes. This function allows text to appear in desktop mode for a deliberative mindset audience and to not appear when in mobile mode, for a micro-moment audience. 

But many web designers are still struggling to get this right. As a result, in my remodeling business I’ve opted to make my paid search landing pages simpler because I didn’t want to alienate my core audience who are in a micro-moment mindset. As of 2015, more than half of all clicks on paid search ads came from mobile devices, according to a study by Marin Software, which provides an online advertising platform. This is because search engines place ads on the top four results, and people in a micro-moment mindset are less likely to keep scrolling down. Thus, the paid ads at the top are clicked more often. 

Maximizing the Investment 

So how does a remodeler make that paid click worth the expense? The answer lies in thinking from a micro-mindset perspective. A searcher on a mobile device who has indicated interest in residential remodeling (for instance, they typed “Chicago kitchen remodeling” into Google) really just wants to find a phone number or form so they can submit their contact information. They don’t want to read a lot of text. 

Changing the layout of my website’s paid search landing page has enabled me to increase my paid search conversions by 100 percent. The layout is very simple. I have a logo at the top which, when clicked, automatically allows the customer to call me. Below that is a large headline, also clickable, listing the phone number. I have a drop-down menu if the homeowner would like to watch videos or actually want to read the text on the other pages—a rarity. Below that is a short paragraph of easy-to-read content and a slide show of my work. Next are reviews from past customers and a “submit” form.

Overall, It’s been a highly effective landing page for mobile consumers who may be partially distracted by their environment. 

Remodeling companies that market effectively online have a huge advantage over competitors. If you’re engaging in paid search and want to grab share of mind from today’s homeowner, you’ll have to adapt your mobile strategy accordingly.