Synthetic Monitoring
Your mobile site is up and running. After spending what seems like an endless amount of time considering everything from design to scalability, it may feel like the hard work is finally done.
Think again. The truth is, the most important work is only just beginning.
The number of visits your site receives often seems like the be-all, end-all metric of success. While there’s no denying its importance, this number doesn’t paint a complete picture of a site’s success. Your site’s ease-of-use, troubleshooting, and ability to accommodate increasing numbers of visitors are just as important.
Monitoring your mobile site’s performance takes time and effort, but it can be the difference between a functioning and a flourishing site.
Here are 4 ways to make your mobile site flourish:
1. Look Deeper
When you’re trying to grow your site, it’s easy to focus solely on the number of views and visits the site accrues – this is essentially instant gratification. But when it comes to traffic, there can be too much of a good thing. In fact, it can be terrible if your site isn’t equipped to handle the load.
Looking beyond the surface numbers will help you notice oncoming issues such as too much traffic based on current capacity limits, and give you time to avert the issue before it becomes a full-blown disaster.
For instance, you have a lot of visitors (which is great!), but how is the number of visitors affecting performance? Are response times increasing? Are users bouncing? Are visitors converting?
2. Solve Problems Quickly
No matter how carefully your mobile site is designed or how attentively you monitor it, problems will arise. This is an unfortunate inevitability that is out of your control. What is under your control is whether the problem turns out to be a minor fluke or a major flaw.
Consistently monitoring your mobile site’s performance means you’ll become aware of problems as soon as they arise. And since users often flee at the first sign of trouble, the faster you can resolve the problems, the better.
3. Be Proactive
While some problems appear suddenly out of nowhere, many issues develop over time. You can’t foresee every issue that may arise, but you can often observe problems as they develop. If you are able to do this, you are better able to plan for similar failures in the future and less likely to be caught off guard.
Taking preemptive action prevents future problems from interfering with your mobile site. But again, the only way to effectively be proactive is to know exactly what you’re working with. Carefully monitor the site over time to uncover patterns and determine the areas of greatest need.
4. Understand Your Users
If your site is difficult to use or if visitors struggle with its layout or functionality, the site will bleed users. As a site owner or developer, it can often be difficult to look at it objectively.
Understanding how users interact with your mobile site, which devices seem to work well, and whether particular devices pose problems will alert you to any flaws and help you improve overall user experience.
In Summary
Ultimately, improving your mobile site comes down to monitoring, and then enhancing, its performance. Maintaining an awareness of deeper issues, solving problems quickly, taking a proactive approach, and understanding your users will all make your site flourish – but it takes time and effort. Services like Apica WebPerformance monitor site performance 24/7 and help you stay one step ahead of any issues.