Although it’s been over a year, Covid-19 continues to wreak havoc and disrupt business operations around the world. This has included disruptions to supply chains; increased demand for products, services and goods; changes in customer behaviour; and store closures to name a few.
Many online businesses, however, actually saw growth in 2020 (by as much as 11.8% in the first quarter and 16.1% in the second). Operating online allowed some businesses to better manage their suppliers and customers; increase sales; use analytics to evaluate their businesses; as well as implement engagement programs.
What has Covid-19 meant for web design?
There has actually been a significant surge in demand for web design services as lockdowns continue to be imposed and scaled back across the world. Many businesses are viewing this time as the perfect opportunity to invest in a website, undertake a redesign or improve on their existing web presence.
In this article, we’ve taken a closer look at the top web design trends that have cropped up during the Covid-19 pandemic:
Chatbots
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is making big changes in the online business world. Chatbots (a software program or app that interacts with customers) have quickly become a popular addition to websites – it’s an effective way to boost your sales processes.
Not only do chatbots understand written text, they can also interpret your customer’s intent. Truly smart chatbots can converse with your customers, answer their questions and automate interactions.
Although many think that the uptake has been quite slow in the B2B domain, Covid-19 has seen a real push in this direction. It’s estimated that at least 80% of all online businesses will soon be using chatbots on their websites. In fact, B2B businesses the world over spend millions of dollars on customer support services every year.
Minimalism
If you want to attract more customers as well as yield a higher return on investment (ROI), you need a website that ticks all the boxes (in terms of design, aesthetics and functionality). With a minimalistic design, your business will be able to get its message across without distractions.
Some of 2020’s best practices include simple, clean design elements along with small paragraphs, white space to help customers easily navigate your website, and high-quality videos and demo videos to help you stand out from the crowd.
The lack of unnecessary elements in a minimalistic design also helps to keep a customers’ focus on your brand, products, and services. It reduces load times, improves the user experience, and enhances readability all whilst making the information easier to digest.
Responsive Design
With mobile devices being so convenient and easy to use, mobile has truly surpassed desktop. This is why responsive web design has become such a big trend over the last year or so – it’s important for Google’s algorithms, plus it enhances the user experience.
You need the help of an experienced Melbourne-based digital agency team to ensure that your site is easy to navigate with elements in the right place and clear menu options. They will also place the search box in the right place, helping customers to quickly find products and services.
User Experience (UX)
One of the most important components of any website, it should be noted that around 40% of people say they don’t engage with sites that load slowly and around 85% of online shoppers feel that eCommerce sites should take steps to improve their mobile user interfaces.
One of the best ways to improve the user experience is by improving the speed of your website – this can be easily achieved by compressing images before uploading them (as the size of image files is the leading cause of slow pages).
Remember that online customers are used to visual cues that help them to figure out important content, such as Calls to Action (or CTAs). You should also think about the psychology of color – research has shown that the correct use of color can increase clicks on your website by around 11%.
With the pandemic far from over, doing business in 2021 is really not as simple as it was before Covid-19 came about. More and more businesses are looking to take their operations online – to be successful, you need to have an amazing website with a focus on enhancing the user experience and customer satisfaction whilst effectively communicating your products.
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