Making Hubs More Smartphone-friendly for Amazon sales

1. 72

   Hearts and Lattesposted 9 years ago

   I am realizing that sometimes up to 2/3 of my audience is using smartphones to access my hubs, yet 90% of my Amazon sales are from desktop/laptop/tablet users. This makes me think that a lot of smartphone users are simply not scrolling to the right or perhaps they are not motivated to spend because they are in more of a rush.
   
   So my question is, is there a way we can get an option for photo and Amazon capsules to be flush-left rather than just centered or flush right (the way we use the arrow to move the capsule to the right). Amazon capsules right now can be centered, but they don't look as appealing this way and there are no color options for them oriented this way either.
   
   I can only guess that sales are higher with non-smartphone users because they already see the whole page when they look at a hub. But if we can get some options for the more profitable content to be on the left side, maybe we can get more mobile sales?
   
   I could be missing something here as I am no expert. Does anyone have more insight into this than I do?

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   1. 71

      Matthew Meyerposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      There are limited options for placement of the Amazon capsule.
      Hubs are formatted a bit differently for desktop and mobile, so you might want to see how your Hubs are showing on a mobile device.
      One big difference is that the layout is a single column on mobile.

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      1. 72

         Hearts and Lattesposted 9 years agoin reply to this

         When I look on this site ...
         
         http://mobiletest.me/iphone_5_emulator
         
         ... my hubs look just like they do on a desktop, except a lot more scrolling to the right is involved. Am I missing something?
         
         I don't have access to a mobile device otherwise, so I couldn't test it any other way.

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         1. 71

            Matthew Meyerposted 9 years agoin reply to this

            That site isn't showing you the mobile version.

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            1. 72

               Hearts and Lattesposted 9 years agoin reply to this

               So I guessing my concerns might be unwarranted?

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               1. 71

                  Matthew Meyerposted 9 years agoin reply to this

                  I think so.
                  Here you can see the different Hub layout on desktop versus mobile for one of your Hubs.
                  Notice mobile is one column.
                  
                  Desktop
                  
                  Mobile
                  
                  
                  
                  

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                  1. 72

                     Hearts and Lattesposted 9 years agoin reply to this

                     Thank you. Matthew

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                     Writer Foxposted 9 years agoin reply to this

                     According to Google's test, HP passes for mobile display:
                     http://goo.gl/e9gPwa

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         2. 61

            Fred Arnoldposted 9 years agoin reply to this

            You can check how it looks on mobile with the preview feature in the edit tool before you publish a Hub. I always check them to make sure the pictures line up well.

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   2. 84

      Marisa Wrightposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      HubPages has adopted a very simplistic "mobile-friendly" layout which I hate!!   
      
      All it does is convert every capsule to full-width.   If you have two capsules side-by-side, it moves the right-floated capsule ABOVE the left-floated one.   
      
      What that means is that if you've written a paragraph recommending a product, the reader sees the Amazon capsule first, before they get to your explanation.   From a sales perspective, that's obviously the cart before the horse and I think, explains the difference in sales.

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      1. 72

         Hearts and Lattesposted 9 years agoin reply to this

         Thanks for taking the time to give me these details. That would certainly explain some of it. I wish they would change this!

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2. 94

   Kylyssaposted 9 years ago

   The Amazon capsules look great on phones, they're easy-to-see. I don't think the HP contribution to the equation is at fault in any way.
   
   I have not bought anything through a HubPages Amazon capsule using a phone but I've made an Amazon purchase using a phone. It can be a pain in the 'tocks to enter my credit card number and other details using my phone. So I wait until I have access to my tablet or PC now. Since I carry my tablet in my purse it's not a big deal and I can wait on just about any purchase until I get home anyway. Lots of people carry tablets or phablets now.
   
   I also only made that purchase via my phone because someone I knew wanted it badly and there was only one left. Normally, I would have waited.
   
   You also may be selling products that people typically research a little before buying or that don't appeal to whatever demographic it is that prefers buying from small-display phones rather than phablets or tablets.

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   1. 72

      Hearts and Lattesposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks for the info! By the way, I'm loving the term "phablets". Never heard of that before.

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3. 79

   SpaceShantyposted 9 years ago

   I find that across all platforms where I promote Amazon items, Hubpages, blog, website, Facebook, nearly all sales come from desktop users.
   
   As the OP mentioned, people are probably in a rush when they are on their phones and might not want to whip out their credit card on public transport.
   
   Just today I saw Amazon is trying to get more sales via mobile called 'mobile popover'  visit this link from a mobile device for an example http://bit.ly/15Xx3MO  (This is an example provided by Amazon and not an affiliate link!)  A small pop up with item details/price and customer ratings comes up on  the bottom of the users screen.
   
   I looks good but is still in beta.  However, since you must add Java script to the site I doubt you could use it here on HP, ideal for your own website/blog.

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   1. 72

      Hearts and Lattesposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      SS,
      
      So it is not just me!
      
      It will be interesting to see how the mobile popover works out. Hopefully for the better.
      
      For items I have sold on mobile they are always the cheaper ones. Makes me think that desktop/laptop users just might also have more money to spend, or the mobile users are mostly young folks.
      
      So much to learn and consider!
      
      Thanks for sharing your information.

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      1. 79

         SpaceShantyposted 9 years agoin reply to this

         Yes I agree that visitors on mobile devices are probably younger, maybe even under 18 without access to a credit card.  I think if you are going to make a large purchase $100+, you probably want to spend a bit of time researchig it on a desktop, that is what  I do anyway.
         I guess most mobile revenue from Hubs is going to come from display advertising and not Amazon sales.   The Internet is ever changing so I guess our methods have to too!

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