A guest post by Kimber Wiggs – Qgiv
These days, we live our lives on the go, so it makes sense that mobile devices are how many of us interact with the web. That’s why few things in the tech space are more frustrating than a website that can’t go with you!
And when you’re hoping that donors will embrace mobile giving, the last thing you want is for them to be frustrated by a form that isn’t mobile-friendly.
So how do you make sure that your website is optimized for giving on the go? Read on, and I’ll share the top reasons to focus on mobile-friendly design, as well as some simple ways to achieve it.
Top 3 Reasons to Make Your Website Mobile-Friendly
- Worldwide, mobile devices account for more than 50% of website traffic (I told you we were on the go!)
- Search engines privilege mobile-friendly sites, resulting in higher traffic
- Online consumers increasingly use mobile devices over laptops/desktops
Let’s take an in-depth look at each of these major factors!
Mobile traffic is huge!
Since 2017, mobile devices have consistently generated around 50% of global web traffic. In the first quarter of 2021, according to Statista, that number was 54.8%, not including the traffic generated by tablets! So, if your website isn’t optimized for mobile use, you could be missing out on a huge segment of users.
For nonprofits, fewer visitors to the site likely means fewer online donations and less support to fund your mission. Even worse, you might find that donors who want to support your mission give up before completing their gift because the online process is too difficult.
Make sure your website and donations forms are mobile-friendly and mobile-responsive to avoid losing traffic (and donations!). By design, Qgiv’s donation forms are mobile-friendly, so you just need to make sure your website follows suit!
Better SEO attracts traffic
SEO, or “Search Engine Optimization,” refers to the likelihood that your site will appear among the results for someone searching on Google, Bing, and other search engines. You want your site to come up right away to encourage new traffic.
But did you know that your SEO can suffer if your site isn’t mobile-friendly? According to Statista, Google holds nearly 90% of worldwide search market share, and over 60% of Google search traffic is generated by mobile devices. It makes sense, then, that Google prioritizes mobile-friendly sites when listing search results!
If your website isn’t mobile-friendly, it’s less likely to show up as one of the first results in a Google search, which means less new traffic flowing to your site. Taking the time to optimize your website for mobile viewing will result in higher visibility and a website that looks great on any device!
Catering to mobile donors means more donations
A 2019 survey by AdColony found that the majority of online shoppers use smartphones to make purchases. Asked about holiday shopping trends, 81% of consumers surveyed said they bought gifts using smartphones, and 45% said they use smartphones to shop regularly.
The same survey found that only 28% of respondents used a desktop or laptop to make online purchases. Online donations are a lot like online purchases. More and more users want to be able to make donations on the go, but if your website isn’t optimized for mobile giving, donors may move on to a site that is.
In the same way that better SEO makes it easier to find your site, catering to mobile donors makes it easier to use your site. Having a mobile-friendly site makes the experience of visiting your page more enjoyable for donors, which in turn, can boost online gifts!
How to achieve a mobile-friendly website
Hopefully by now, you’re convinced that your site should be optimized for mobile viewing. So how do you do it? The three biggest things to focus on are speed, simplicity, and responsiveness. By assessing your site’s current mobile-friendliness, you can figure out what needs to be changed or updated. I’ll tell you more about the Big Three, but another great strategy is to follow these nonprofit donation page best practices.
Speed
Remember when we talked about living life on the go? Well, a website on the go needs to be fast. Long load times will turn off visitors, so your site’s speed is crucial.
Speed matters even more on mobile because the strength of a phone’s signal can impact a site’s loading times. And did you know you can test your website’s speed for free? Uptrends has a free website speed test that also offers suggestions for performance improvements! We ran a speed test for Facebook and got several suggestions to increase speed.
Sadly, the fastest sites are text-only, which likely isn’t how your site is configured. Nor should it be! But do be conscious of how many elements are on your pages, and how large your image files are. If you find that your images are too big, consider using a service like Kraken.io to decrease file size without sacrificing quality.
Unused elements and large image files will take longer to load, so simplify where you can. Which bring us to …
Simplicity
Simplifying your site’s navigation and appearance can help it load faster and improve user experience. You want to make it easy for visitors to your site to find what they’re looking for! Large fonts and big, clickable buttons not only guide the eye but also render well on mobile (that’s why you’re here, after all).
The Pittsburgh Glass Center website does this really well! They use large, clickable images to display their “Glass to Go” kits. Touching an image enlarges and centers the kit’s name, and then tapping the image takes visitors to another page, where they can view details and add the kit to their carts.
On a smartphone, simplicity is key; users want to find what they’re looking for with as few taps as possible. The same goes for your donation forms: a simple donation form creates a better user experience, which results in more money raised!
Responsiveness
Along with speed and simplicity, you want to prioritize responsiveness, which is your site’s ability to adapt its display to different screen sizes. Regardless of the size, your site needs to look great and work well.
Once upon a time, many organizations created separate versions of their sites for desktop versus mobile viewing. But that wasn’t very cost-effective or easy to maintain. These days, websites can be mobile-responsive, so a single site can look great on any size screen. Make sure your site is built for mobile responsiveness so you can avoid the cost and hassle of different sites for different sizes.
Read more about responsive design in this great blog post by Infinity Concepts. Google can help!
While Google might penalize websites that aren’t mobile-friendly, they also offer tools to help improve mobile optimization. Because it’s in your best interest—and theirs—to make sure more sites are optimized for more devices.
To assess your site’s mobile-friendliness, use Google’s simple mobile-friendly test. Just enter your website’s URL, and Google will analyze it for you.
If Google’s criteria finds that your site isn’t mobile-friendly, check out the mobile-usability report for an in-depth look at what could be improved. But if you’ve focused on speed, simplicity, and responsiveness in your site design, you should be good to go!
Conclusion
A mobile-friendly website with equally optimized donation pages can boost traffic, wow your visitors, and increase the number and size of online donations you receive. If your site isn’t there yet, don’t worry! Spend a little time analyzing your site to find out what changes you can make, and you’ll soon be well on your way to the mobile-friendly site of your dreams!
Need more tips for your nonprofit website? Check out these additional resources:
- In this on-demand webinar, Rachel Clemens breaks down the Anatomy of a Nonprofit Website.
- Ready to learn more about SEO? Check out these SEO Strategies for Success, written specifically with nonprofits in mind!
- Make sure the rest of your nonprofit marketing plan is mobile-friendly with these 3 Ways You Can Optimize Your Marketing for Mobile.
Let Infinity Concepts help you with all your fundraising needs!
CLICK HERE or call us today at 724-733-1200.
- Mobile Giving Needs Beautiful Donation Pages … Anywhere! - December 31, 2021
