5 best practices for a mobile content marketing strategy

According to research conducted by SmartInsights, nearly half of all internet users are accessing content from a mobile device. If they don’t have a good experience within a few seconds, they’ll never see your content, let alone read it.

Depending on your audience, your mobile users may even be greater than 50%. You can easily find out how many people are accessing your website from a phone using Google Analytics.

Simply navigate to your Google Analytics account, click on Mobile under the Audience section. This will show you an easy breakdown by device.

To appeal to visitors consuming your content on their phones, use these 5 best practices to keep your content mobile friendly.

Create short, yet descriptive headlines

We all know that our attention spans are getting shorter and shorter. A 2015 study by Microsoft revealed that we now have an attention span of just eight seconds, (down from twelve seconds in 2000).  Wow! This means that you need to get your point across instantly. 

This is amplified on mobile as your audience is likely on the go, more distracted than if they were sitting at their computer. You’ll need to capture your mobile audience’s attention with your headline. Keeping it short will take up less screen real estate and give them more of an opportunity to scan your opening paragraph. Kissmetrics offers some great examples of concise and creative headlines.

Keep your paragraphs concise

Most mobile users want to scan content. Keep your first couple of paragraphs concise and to-the-point. Lead with your most important information. Once you’ve engaged your audience and they’re interested in your content, your content can transition to longer, more in-depth paragraphs. Find some more tips on how to keep your blog content mobile friendly from Successful Blogging.

If they’re interested, they’ll scroll

Let’s face it, it’s noisy out there. There are 1.2 billion websites online and that number is growing rapidly. Be interesting and always try to write content that’s valuable to your audience, but don't get too caught up in the "above the fold" myth. If you’re able to hook your audience with a piece of content, they will scroll to keep reading. In fact, eye tracking research indicates that even though content at the top of the page definitely gets the most love, people do scroll. UX Myths breaks this down even further. 

Use images judiciously

We all know the saying, “a picture is worth a thousand words.” Images hold a lot of power, especially with mobile: research shows that mobile users look at images more than they look at text. But this doesn't mean to plop images all over your pages. If your image is really translating to a thousand words, you want those words to be meaningful and accurate. Make sure that your images elevate or support your point. 

Avoid intrusive popups

About a year ago, Google announced that it would rank mobile websites that use intrusive interstitials lower than other sites where content is easily accessible. Your calls to action shouldn’t cover the entire screen. Make it easy for your audience to reach your content.

Image source: Google Webmasters Blog

Writing content for mobile readers doesn’t have to be a chore. Start simply by anticipating what they need and providing that information.

Forrester research reports that there are almost 30 billion mobile moments in the US alone. If you’re not considering your mobile audience with your content strategy, it’s time to start. Get some help with our team »