Approximately 20% of the traffic to the ALO website comes from mobile devices. This has been steadily on the increase and will continue to increase into the future. The new website displays well on mobile devices and touch screen devices.
What we wanted to build then was something to complement, not replace the new website. There is no auto detect for mobile browsers on the main institutional site, to redirect mobile device users to a mobile site. In the future, if the mobile site proves more effective in delivering mobile sales, auto detect can be enabled.
The core concept for a complementary mobile site was easily accessible program notes and pertinent event information readily available for patrons on the go. This is how the idea for ALOontheGo.org was born. There are no extra costs and no considerable extra work involved; it’s a simple, straightforward WordPress installation with mobile specific content.
Traffic is directed specifically to mobile site where deemed appropriate: a Facebook post for production notes on the go; or promote accessibility and information at your fingertips in email marketing.
While mobile traffic accounts for 20% of total traffic, it only delivers less than 10% of the revenue. As mobile traffic will become more and more important, we need to bridge this gap in conversions. We will need to monitor how ALO on the Go converts to sales compared to the main institutional site. What can we learn?
Paciolan recently launched mobile specific box office sites. Auto detect for mobile browsers is enabled. So no matter how you arrive to the ticketing site, via ALO on the Go or the main site, if you arrive on a mobile device, you will see the mobile box office site. Will this mobile specific site improve conversion rates? As the site just launched, it is too early to tell at this point.
Hi Marc,
Great series on your online marketing push!
If you have your main website with some content and a mobile site with other content, have you had any feedback from visitors who are confused about where to find something they were looking for, like the program notes?
Another option for you would be to create only one page template that can resize for mobile browers where you can post the most pertinant content or the content that you believe will be accessed via mobile. We are currently look at a solution like that for our website.
Looking forward to more posts in this series!
Thanks for the comment, Joe.
We just launched with the mobile site, but I haven’t heard of any confusion. Also, it’s important to note that there really isn’t any different content. All content from the mobile site can be found on the main site. The mobile site just places more focus on the content that’s more for “on the go.”
There’s a reason why I didn’t set an auto-detect function for mobile traffic on the main site. The main site responds well on mobile devices. The mobile site has a much more specific objective and focus.
Check out Drew McManus’ Adaptistration for some good articles on responsive design and mobile sites vs. main sites:
http://www.adaptistration.com/blog/2012/02/24/16px-font-size-and-48px-wide-buttons-are-the-new-black/
http://www.adaptistration.com/blog/2012/03/29/more-on-mobile-website-readiness/
http://www.adaptistration.com/blog/2012/04/24/another-voice-questioning-the-need-for-apps/