Lockdown & the importance of UX for conversions in web design

First of all, let’s break this down so we’re all on the same page…

1. What is lockdown?

The pesky pandemic; COVID-19, has sent Australia, and the world, into lockdown. Where we are essentially ‘locked down’ in our residential premises with restricted outdoor movements. The new way of working is from home, with human connection made via Zoom video calls and the 11am news update our lifeline to what the future holds.

2. What is UX?

UX relates to everything your visitors experience as they navigate and interact with your site. Users desire a seamless experience, easily finding what they’re searching for with minimal friction, which can cause them to bounce.

3. What are conversions?

The desired action you want visitors to take on your site – it could be purchasing a product, signing up to a newsletter, requesting quotes, sharing a blog post to social media etc… basically, the user doing whatever you want the user to do. (also see our article: How to easily turn more website visitors into customers)

Now that we have that covered, what’s UX got to do with conversions? Everything! And why is UX so important during lockdown? Again, it is everything!

To elaborate, a great user experience creates credibility for your brand which in turn builds trust in your visitors. Trust is key to conversions. If users don’t trust your brand, they will not do the things you want them to, they will not convert.

Let’s put ourselves in the user’s shoes. Imagine visiting a site. Upon landing on the home page it all looks visually pleasing, tick! However, as you begin to navigate, things become complicated. You are unable to find what you are looking for, pages.take.so.long.to.load, pop-ups keep ‘popping-up’, there are too many buttons, links are broken… you get the idea. You are highly likely to bounce and never return.

Now, imagine you are in lockdown (for anyone in Sydney, no imagination necessary). Your entire world is predominantly now online. From working, to schooling, to retail purchasing. Your world is now reliant (and at the mercy) of online websites and platforms. In this heightened emotional state it is now more important than ever that web design has great UX, for all the uses you need it for… and for your sanity.

So, if you do have an online presence, now (if not yesterday) is the time to ensure your web design has amazing UX, to ensure you are converting and taking advantage of lockdown behaviours. What exactly are these emerging online lockdown behaviours? Get ready to lick your lips…. with 9.1 million households purchasing online in the 2021 financial year* (the first time in Australian eCommerce history online purchases passed the 9 million household mark)! And Nasdaq predicting by 2040 at least 95% of retail purchases are likely to be made online… traditional retail may become almost non-existent.

So why not take a piece of the 9.1 million household pie, or in less than 20 years gobble up some of the 95% of online purchases… it’s all there for the taking!

Want to ensure your UX is creating conversions, but not sure how? Our team do! Contact our team today to boost your conversions and take advantage of these emerging online lockdown behaviours.

*Australia Post – Inside Australian Online shopping – July 2021 eCommerce report