A couple of weeks ago, I asked readers how they would optimize the following Hulu.com mobile landing page that I saw when I searched for Hulu on my iPhone’s browser.

hulu mobile landing page

Obviously, there was an issue with the image loading, but that might not be the only problem on this mobile landing page.

Techmirth, a former client and good friend suggested how they could deal with this image not loading:

Don’t rely on a single image that may fail to load to be your sole way of communicating. It is good they’re realizing you’re on mobile, and not forcing you to load their full site, but they should take that thought a little further and use actual text. Some clean css with real text would prevent the single image fail and still allow for some visual prettiness.

Jrosell a former MarketMotive Master certification student of mine said:

At least, slicing images and having descriptive alt attribute in it.
I would link to a page to list prices, features, and benefits in plain text.

Russ Somers suggested:

Wow. Seems like a lot of space that could be better used. I’m stating the obvious here, I think, but bring that trial button up higher. Add some excitement to the verbiage with a “Now” – “Try It Now, Free!” And let the CTA button deviate from the brand palette to get attention. You can always tell from the color of the button whether the creative director or the direct-response marketer is in charge ;)

Converian points out that there may be some flaws in their conversion process:

Indeed, alt attribute would help here a lot or clean css (giving a decent page for people not displaying pictures), but it’s not enough. I would add a price tag and some urgency CTA. I dont belive that 2 steps funnel would increase conversion, customer is on position to subscribe to a service, where the decision is based on many factors than simple pricing.

It’s tough to argue with Justin Fogarty‘s comment:

At this point, it’s nearly hopeless. If my first mobile interaction is a technical failure while I was just trying to load a marketing landing page, I’m going to assume the service won’t work very well. Nothing else they could do with that landing page will get me over the perception problem they’ve created.

hierarchy of optimizationMost everyone was able to identify that this landing page had a fundamental flaw. The flaw is difficult to overcome as anyone who understands  the  hierarchy of optimization is well aware If a website doesn’t function well, or I can’t figure out what you do, how I do what I came to accomplish or as Justin mentioned fails to the point that I just don’t trust you any longer there is nothing left for you to accomplish. You can watch an older video of me explaining the hierarchy of optimization:

So I went back to Hulu.com on my iPhone again this week and captured the experience. Here is the home page (at least the image came up this time):

Hulu Plu mobile landing page 2

Is this better?

To evaluate if any landing page is effective, you can begin by looking at the conversion trinity.

  1. Relevance: Is this what I was expecting when I arrived? Could I accomplish what I wanted to do?
  2. Value: How do I know you are the right solution for me? How have you established why I should do business with you?
  3. Call to Action: Have you built up my confidence to want to take an action? Do I know what action I want to take and what happens next?

Let’s focus mostly on relevance. How would you deal with the relevance issue for this branded, mobile keyword search?

Start by understanding your visitors!

What are your visitor’s there for? What do they want to accomplish?

If I searched for Hulu, what was my potential intent? What was I looking for?

Maybe I was doing a search to find the iOS app, maybe the details of how Hulu works, the plans, what content is offered, etc. Then maybe I might be interested in signing up for a free trial, but the hardest place to sign up is always going to be the mobile channel.

So take the 3 main potential goals – place them equally on the page and measure to see which is the primary goal so that in your next iteration of the page you can make that the main focus and remove or minimize any that didn’t get any attention.

Goal 1: find the iOS app

Goal 2: learn about how Hulu works, the plans, what content is offered, etc.

Goal 3: sign up for a free trial.

By the way, I was there for goal 2. I wanted to find out what content they offered to see if it would meet the needs of my family.

Mobile behavior is different than desktop behavior. Mobile searchers are “snackers”. They do more searched at what ever opportunity they get because the device is always near them and available but they want to take a quick bit of “content” and leave. Let them taste your snack and complete their full “buffet” experience on their tablet or desktop.

That is why I was also concerned with Hulu’s sole focus,  pushing me to just sign up might be costing them a lot of conversions.

Just take a look at Hulu’s mobile sign up: the first page took three screens to capture:

hulu signup 1

hulu signup 2

hulu signup 3

Not a great customer experience. Would you want to complete that form on your mobile device? How many errors might you make?

If you do want to sign people up on mobile make it short and sweet and then send them an email to complete the rest of the sign up later.

Have you seen any great mobile landing pages? Please share.

Please share if you think others would benefit.