Alpharooms rebuilds its site using responsive web design and sees overall conversions jump 100%

Discount travel website Alpharooms doubled its overall conversion rate, increased mobile conversion rate fourfold, reduced mobile bounce rate 35% and cut the time required for customers to price their itineraries by half. How? By rebuilding the site using responsive web design (RWD).

The impetus was the dramatic increase in mobile internet usage. Smartphones had come to comprise about 8% and tablets about 11% of Alpharooms’ traffic. These numbers were predicted to grow, but the brand’s conversion rates on these devices were poor. It was in response to these challenges that Alpharooms decided to launch its new multi-screen strategy.

It took 11 months to go from initial planning to migrating all traffic to the new RWD site, with several user journeys launched on a staggered basis during that timeframe. The RWD site responds to a user’s screen orientation and size, then adjusts images, content visibility and layouts accordingly.

The exercise resulted in improved usability on all devices. With a site that consumers can successfully use on any screen, Alpharooms today has greater confidence in marketing to mobile users, and AdWords enhanced campaigns is one tool that makes it straightforward to apply device-specific tactics. For example, the team can ratchet up the percentage bid adjustments to the mobile channel easily, as well as tailor messaging directly to consumers on smartphones.

In terms of future mobile strategy, the plan is to increase the bid adjustment and compete on all mobile channels. The marketing budget allocated to mobile is set to increase from just 1% to between 10 and 15%, in line with the brand’s steadily expanding mobile audience.

To learn more about Alpharooms’ RWD build, read the full case study here.

Article by Matt Brocklehurst, Product Marketing Manager, Google