8 Best Practices for Mobile Design

You have to understand that there are billions of people with smartphones over there. All those smartphones have the possibility to connect to Internet. That is the main reason why it is important to consider this fact when thinking about web design. Most web builders use mobile-friendly features, however, if you want to create something really meaningful, you have to follow certain rules and practices. We present you eight Best Practices for Mobile Design:

1. Navigation bar is not necessary 

The idea is to get clear space and to maximize everything that will get out on a mobile phone. The first thing that you have to do is to drop the navigation bar. When you are on a computer that could be helpful, but on mobile, it takes lots of space that you can use for images, text or anything that can drive the visitor to understand your message and to buy your service.

2. Everything must be within reach 

Remember that people use a mobile phone, especially smartphones with a touchscreen, with thumbs in order to interact. Our phones in the last few years are becoming bigger, which means that the way we hold phones has changed. You have to think as a designer how to organize the content so that visitor could reach everything with one single touch, without thinking too much.

3. You have to optimize the size of files 

You are aware that you have to optimize all images that are on the website, Even though, that can take some time, the effect will be visible and effective. This is very important, especially for mobile sites.

4. It is important to add link to addresses and phone numbers 

When you optimize website according to best mobile websites, you have to improve visitor’s experience. You have to think ahead and to create advantages that will help your visitor to have a pleasant experience, and then to give you something in return. You have to make “contact us” visible and transparent, that will give you completely ratings at the end of the day.

5. Make design responsive 

There are some layouts that work perfectly for both desktop computers and smartphones. There are differences between these two types of designs, but the main purpose is the same. You can easily create a single website layout that changes and responds immediately based on visitors’ device.

6. Don’t allow popups 

Popups are not a great way to attract visitors, especially if most of them use smartphones in order to access your website. In the same time, popups are bad for SEO. A few months ago, Google made penalties for sites that use popups. In case that popups are important for you, you can add it as a section on the page or within the content.

7. You have to optimize forms 

If you have an e-commerce website and you work through different kind of forms, try to be different here. You just have to minimize conversion rates and to create forms according to those changes. That means that you should reduce the number of form fields on the page. By doing that, your visitor will be able to fill it up without frustrating workload and typing, which is far more convenient.

8. Customize Collapsible Menu 

You have to create a customized menu that differently changes the perspective of your website. When the content is collapsed on a smaller screen then it will be much longer. If you are a mobile user, you now that it could be frustrating to navigate when you cannot understand where you are because of big icons and menu. You just have to add front-end work in order to put everything together. It is a piece of cake.

At the very end, these tips will help you deal with the possibility to attract more people, especially those who use smartphones. We can easily say that these are best marketing strategies to increase sales and you just have to follow them and enjoy. Mobile-friendly is present.

3 Common Mistakes in Email Marketing

Developing an email marketing strategy that works takes a lot of experience, a lot of mistakes and in the end a lot of successes.

Email marketing consists of multiple layers and skill sets. That’s why creating an email marketing strategy that will bring positive results can seem daunting.

Whether you are one of the top email marketing gurus or you are still reading the email marketing beginners guide - it is very easy to make mistakes.

That’s why, in this article, I have outlined 3 of the biggest mistakes in email marketing that appear most commonly. 

In addition, there are a few advanced email marketing tips that should assist you no matter what level you consider yourself. 

That way you can hopefully benefit from some of my experiences and avoid repeating the same mistakes!

#1 Bad A/B Testing Decisions

A/B Testing or Split Testing is one of the top email marketing strategies when it it is done correctly. 

It consists of sending two versions of an email template to two small sections of an email database. Results are then compared. The email with the better conversion rate is judged to be the better campaign.

However, I have seen many cases where bad A/B Testing decisions have effected overall results. Listed below are a few common mistakes:

• Sample list size too small: An A/B Test can only be accurate if the samples are the right size. If too small it will be impossible to judge the test a fair reflection on the entire list.

• Pro-Tip #1:  Hubspot suggest that 1,000 opens of a specific email campaign is a sufficient number from which to make a solid conclusion.

• Pro-Tip #2: Split test each email in your email follow up series. This is an effective and time efficient way to optimise your email marketing campaigns. 

• Testing more than one variable: Only ever test one element in an A/B Test. If you test more you won’t know which variable it was that caused the campaign to perform better.

• Pro-Tip: I suggest that you keep a spreadsheet of all of your email marketing conversion statistics. Excel is powerful tool for presentations and identifying areas for improvement fast. Having to login and search through different applications can be time consuming.

#2 Bad Email List Hygiene:

This is another of the most common mistakes in email marketing. 

Bad email data can consist of inactive users, spamtraps, complainers and much more. By sending email campaigns to data such as this you can put your entire sending reputation in jeopardy. 

For that reason it is one of the biggest obstacles to developing an email marketing strategy that works. 

Pro-Tip #1: Set up segments of your lists that separate your openers and clickers from the rest. That way you won't repeatedly send to disengaged users. To be 100% safe remove the non-openers.

Pro-Tip #2: Some email sending applications have a Re-Engagement feature. This will remove users to a separate list if they haven't opened any campaigns for a certain amount of time. You could then send out a great email campaign to arouse their interest before they become completely inactive.

This is a highly effective email marketing strategy. It will leave you with a highly targeted list whilst maintaining a great Senderscore for your email server.

A further tips is to always source out the best email data. Make sure you are using single or double opt in lists. In addition, try using an email data feed or verified users that have opted in for email marketing offers.

#3 Email Subject Line Mistakes

The first thing your subscribers will see is your email subject line. 

So if you are not using the best email subject lines your emails will never get opened. 

They must be relevant to the content of the email. If you are too clever or long winded you may end up confusing your audience. 

Pro-Tip: Avoid aggressive sales pitches, excessive use of capitals and numbers. A good email marketing campaign strategy is about building up trust.

Here is a conversion graphic comparing long and short subject lines from mailup blog:

Aweber report that relevant subject lines receive 541% more clicks than those that try to be too clever. 

Here are some example of the best and worst subject lines:

9 Must-Try Email Subject Lines
Your Winning Personalization Strategy
3 Steps to Winning Customer Loyalty
20 of the Best Subject Lines for Email Open Rates
The 7 Step Blueprint to Get Traffic To Your Site Today
How to Start a Successful Online Business
How to Find Traffic Easily

and now the worst:

You’re not alone
It’s finally here
Still doing it the old way?
Customer Spotlight – SEER Interactive
Selling Digital: The Perfect Last-Minute Christmas Gift

A clever subject line may get opened out of curiosity. But a direct subject line that offers something of real value will provide the better conversion rates.

Pro-Tip:  Use personalisation to improve engagement. It will make your users feel more relevant as you can see in the graph above from RhythmAgency.com.

Insight.venturebeat.com discovered that email marketers who are using personalisation get a 2.5x higher click-through rate, and generate 6 times more in sales.

Conclusion

So if you are making these mistakes right now, then you have a few effective email marketing tips to help you improve. That way you can begin seriously developing an email marketing strategy.

If you've read this and found yourself in agreement because you have made some of these mistakes, then don't worry I feel your pain, let's share it together!

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8 Must Do Ways to Increase the Efficiency of Your Email Marketing Campaigns

Often email marketing conversations can inspire a hasty look at the watch from the listener, or an "oh sorry, i have to be somewhere...." response! But while it is true that the scope of knowledge required is extensive across both technical and marketing aspects, if you equip yourself well and buckle down you will discover fast that email marketing is an essential tool for growing your business.

Don't be a Spammer 

The reality of email marketing is to remain as a legitimate emailer and to be careful to avoid playing the spam game. Spam emailing strategies can do tremendous damage to your business reputation and domain name to be conscious to develop a strong and trustworthy relationship with your users, otherwise there will be little motivation for them to purchase any of your products or services.

Provide Engaging Content

Look to provide unique and incentivising promotions at discount rates that will cut you well above any of the competition and never be afraid to give something extra for free. An incredible offer or snippet of valuable information that is just what your would be subscriber needs is exactly the hook needed for your web traffic to turn into fully blown double opt in subscribers. So think hard about your customers needs, interests, etc and ask yourself, would you want to sign up for this if you were in their place.

Take care that your email marketing materials are consistent with your web presence and company branding. Familiarity is a crucial element in nurturing trust in your brand.

Build Strong Relationships

Although ultimately your email marketing strategy should be centred upon increasing sales and revenue be mindful that long term interaction and retention of clients on your email list will be more profitable than trying to drive a quick sale. For that reason, emails need to be also about provision of useful information, personalised messages and trust building when building your list.

Timing is Everything

Consider the timing of your mailing. Ensure that your campaigns are going out when potential clients are going to receive them. For instance don't send an email out at the weekend if your are trying to generate new business and know that your target openers will not be in front of their computers. Be mindful of different time zones and vacation time frames, as these could be wasted marketing opportunities.

Provide Plenty of Choice

Web users are often people who enjoy making choices and comparisons from one service to another. Give them more options than your rivals when they reach your sign up forms. Try, for instance, allowing them to specify a particular area of interest, or a frequency of receiving email correspondence. This will help garner trust as they will be mindful of receiving spam mail, whereas giving them the option to choose what they receive will make them more likely to join your list. Conversely do not ask for too much personal information. Whilst more can potentially be of value, less can often be more suitable for a client who wishes to remain in control of their personal info.

Build Your Business Presence

A solid company branding presence is essential in all of your marketing correspondences. Make your mailers eye catching and ensure that they get your message across clearly and concisely. Time is of the essence and your clients may have a lot of content to sift through already in the normal working day, so helping them to acknowledge your brand quickly is of the utmost importance.

Optimise Your Campaigns

Optimisation is key for pushing up the small percentages for each of your email campaigns. Check regularly (once a week, monthly) to see in the campaign statistics which emails have the best open rates and click throughs. Those with lowest can be replaced by new ones each time, so you will constantly be looking to increase customer interaction with your site and products.

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Typical Email Server Client Sending Report

This post is an outline of a typical client Sending Report for a Lite Email System using Interspire and a 6IP sending server. This system was being used for retention email campaigns for a binary options company. In the first month there were a number of client sending issues that directly effected email deliverability and lead to complications for the sending server.

Main Server and Sending Server were configured at the start of the month using Interspire Sending Application in the main data server and Power MTA in a 6IP sending server.  

The first stage when an email server with sending app has been configured is to carry out a test send to ensure that everything is configured with correct DKIM, DMARC and SPF so that the system will be ready to send email campaigns. Here is a summary of the results (the IP and send from address have been omitted for obvious reasons)

Summary of Results

========================================================== 

SPF Check : neutral

Sender-ID Check : neutral

DKIM Check : neutral

SpamAssassin Check : ham (non-spam)

==========================================================

Details:

========================================================== 

HELO hostname: [xxxxxxxxx]
Source IP: xxxxxxxxx

mail-from: info@xxxxxxxAnonymous To: mailertest-sender123@isnotspam.com

---------------------------------------------------------

SPF check details:---------------------------------------------------------- 

Result: neutral

ID(s) verified: smtp.mail=info@xxxxxx

DNS record(s):

xxxxxx. 38397 IN TXT "v=spf1 a mx ptr a:xxxxxx ip4:xxxxxxxx ?all"  

As you can see SPF, DKIM is neutral and the IP checked back as not listed from Spam Assassin. Now the system is correctly configured and ready to be used for retention email campaigns.

1 - First Send Made With Incorrectly Coded Mailer

The client then proceeded to prepare two email campaigns which were sent out to two separate lists. Unfortunately the email campaign was coded incorrectly which caused the email not to be sent.

The above image details the incorrectly coded mailer; while it may appear at first sight  that there is nothing unusual, notice how in the layout everything is aligned to the left side. Also, see the unusual choice of subject line. When you take a look at the source code, the substance of the issue will be made clear:

2 - Second Send Made With Incorrectly Coded Mailer 

Again when examining code the problem is clear :

When looking at the Email Campaign Statistics, the campaign clearly did not get sent out:

When coding language isn’t specified in the html file the system / browser / ISP / ESP cannot read the mail content so it will be unable to complete the send. The arrows show some of the issues in the badly coded mail examples, but if you take the time to look further you will see a whole range of problems with the code, any one of which could prevent the email sending.

Correctly Coded Mailer

A new mailer was then prepared for another campaign :

Detailed in the image below is the clean coded mailer ready for sending - 

However, despite the fact that a suitable mailer was now prepared there were a few more red flags raised with the sending as the stats below show - 

The most noticeable observation at first glance is a problematic subject line. Unnecessary capitalisation, spam words such as "discount" and "EUROS" along with punctuation are highly likely to see an email soft bounce from an esp because of a content issue. And, as we check the bounce statistics for this send (see graphics below) you can see from the number of soft bounces blocked due to content.

However, even with a weak or spammy subject line, the open rate is still worryingly low for a good list of email data. So the second red flag to be raised was whether the email list was up to par. 

Another glance over the bounce statistics shows a number of emails that no longer exist:

Sending email campaigns to email addresses that no longer exist is a massive red flag – always send to email addresses that are verified and active.  One send to an inactive email account can result in negative reputation, the system can manage the bounces but has its limits – repeated sending to inactive email accounts will blacklist the IPs immediately. Furthermore, if you send to an inactive gmail account, gmail will block all of your mailers to any gmail account (same for Hotmail, yahoo, etc).

Below are the contact list domain name stats – one inactive email can bar you from all other emails in that ESP. Notice that gmail email addresses make up 47% of the list, so getting blocked from gmail is a sure way to get a low open rate on a list like this:

To add to this, some of the ESPs often reactivate inactive email accounts to test out whether a user is repeatedly sending to the inactive address. These are known as Spamtraps, as the behaviour of Spammers typically involves blasting repeated emails to large lists without regard for maintaining the list.

 

Conclusion 

In truth the conclusions are obvious when knowing what to look for in the sending application stats:

1 – Send out correctly coded mailers

2 – Research your subject lines (personalization, use ones that generate high open rates, etc) 

3 – Always use active and verified email lists 

Point number 3 is probably the least regarded by even experienced email marketers as it takes a lot of effort. There is a belief in email marketing that it is possible to send out as many emails you want to random contact lists and it will make you money, but in reality this is classic spammer behaviour. Any business intending to make a success of email marketing must nurture their lists and keep them clean and updated. Even if you have the smartest looking mailer and the best opening subject line, if your data is not maintianed, present and opted in for your niche your mailers simply won't arrive in many inboxes. Even with double opted in lists, bulk blasting mailers with affiliate links, will get your blocked striaght off the bat.

Remember that the ESPs are Google, Yahoo, Microsoft, etc - some of the largest corporations on the planet, with all of the technology, resources and knowledge to identify spam mailing methods. Trying to take them on with a couple of VPS servers, a sending app worth around $250 and a bunch of old spreadhseets of data is not going to get you far. For this reason, you need a solid email marketing strategye and you must adhere to sensible and ethical email practices whenever you market your brand or else you will just be wasting your time.