Image
Blogs

How does UX audit contribute to higher sales in the online marketplace?

Posted on  29 September, 2022
logo

Introduction

Have you ever heard of a “UX audit”? Imagine you have a popular e-commerce website. Visitors discover your page through both search engines and social media channels. They browse your products, put their favorites in the cart, and continue the payment process. Yet ultimately, they give up on the cart. As the desertion rate rises, you begin to wonder what will happen to your site. The UX audit kicks in at this point, and in my opinion, it will definitely help you boost your online sales!

In this article, I will explain what this term means, why it is important and how it helps increase revenue for businesses on digital marketplaces.

What is UX Audit?ux audit

A UX audit is a process of identifying problems affecting the user experience on digital products, such as websites or applications. Although this technique does not solve the existing problems, it answers some important questions.

  • What elements of the website or applications are frustrating consumers and hindering conversions?
  • What do the statistics say about the requirements and behaviors of the users?
  • What improvements can be made to enhance business performance?

According to the Adobe State of Content report, businesses would be at risk of losing their audience, if their website is slow-loading and difficult to use. Specifically, 73% of respondents highlight the importance of the content displayed on the device. In addition, 64% emphasize the  “overall good design” of a website. UX Audit not only focuses on how a site is designed consistently and aesthetically, but it also proposes a strategic plan for businesses to improve their online presence.

Who should run a UX Audit, and When?ux audit persona

UX Design Audit is recommended for every digital commerce business that desires to optimize the user journey. While companies that own a UX team can periodically examine and improve their website or apps, those without an in-house team can conduct a UX Audit by hiring a third party.

UX audits may be carried out whenever new websites or applications are being developed or while revamping older ones. With reference to redesigning projects, UX audit will definitely help companies evaluate current user flows and spot problems and bottlenecks that impede users from carrying out their intended tasks.

Audits can also be conducted proactively, once every 2 years, outside of the design cycles of a product. This initiative aims to ensure the product’s effectiveness in serving user needs and maintaining usability standards.

The same procedure may also be used to evaluate a new digital product before its introduction. As a result, you can make immediate adjustments to enhance user experience and prevent financial losses.

UX Audit processux process

Stage 1: Clarify business goals

It can be members of your in-house team, or an external agency to conduct the UX Audit. However, if you want an unbiased outcome based on genuine visits, hiring an external agency is a more suitable option. In any case, be sure to state your company’s goals. Here are some questions to ponder at this point:

  • What are your business goals?

What can be measured, can be improved! Make sure you set the right goal and keep in mind the right metric so that the whole business doesn’t go off track. Follow the S.M.A.R.T. model for setting Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Timely goals.

For example, the goal of any e-commerce website is to increase sales. However, this goal seems to be so broad, making it impossible to predict when and how close your business will be to achieving it. Instead, it is crucial to keep in mind the S.M.A.R.T model objective, which essentially directs you to concentrate on growing your sales by 30% from the first quarter to the second quarter. 

  • What role does your website play in achieving the company’s objectives?

Remember to define your website’s overall objectives and the responsibilities of each landing page. For instance, suppose you set a target of boosting revenue by 30% over the prior quarter. To achieve this, you’ll employ a range of tactics, including upselling, cross-selling to existing consumers, finding new customers, and presenting new promotions. You can also take the route of launching a “Buy one, get one” free promotion. Your website should now be in charge of generating mailing lists so that you can send out new offers to your clients. 

  • What action from a visitor is a conversion?

A consumer giving their name and email address, in the previous example, is a conversion. However, for other product landing pages, the conversion will be an “add to cart” or a successful payment. Knowing what to expect from a landing page keeps your attention focused on optimizing the content and conveying the call to action.

Stage 2: Understand customers’ goals

Making a customer persona is only the beginning of understanding customers. At a deeper level, you will need to know their pain points and their intention when clicking on a website URL. You will be able to conduct better SEO and lower the bounce rate, resulting in more sales, if you can identify your customer’s genuine pain spots and hidden needs. This way, you can make sure your organization provides the appropriate solution for the target audience.

Stage 3: Review analytics

You’ll need to evaluate the data you’ve gathered from Google Search Console, Google Analytics, Semrush, Hubspot, or any other tool you’ve been using to track your website’s performance, at this stage. Keep these numbers in mind because they reveal a lot about your company’s performance:

  • Conversion UX metrics: A representation of your company’s success as it pertains to the number of people who take the intended action. Because every firm has a unique conversion rate, you should concentrate on Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) to enhance your rate rather than comparing it to your competitors’ rates. A/B testing, often known as split testing, is a strategy for testing and monitoring material to ensure that you are selecting the optimum solution.
  • Customer care data: Includes information gathered from interactions with customers, such as feedback and inquiries about the website. This data is helpful since it exposes areas where you are not performing well and where you can improve. 
  • Traffic/engagement: This number shows how many people visit your website. The more qualified traffic comes to your site, the more potential customers you have.
  • Average session duration time: This statistic calculates the average length of a user’s session on a website. It enables you to determine how long visitors spend on your website, which can be a good starting point for detecting difficulties in the customer journey.
  • Pages-per-session ratio: This indicator is computed by dividing the number of page views by the total number of sessions.  It is used to determine how interesting your website is.
  • Mouse hover, clicking, scrolling: This information can help you understand which pages on your website are most popular and how visitors behave while they are on your pages.

Stage 4: Review the website/app UX/UI in parallel with the Customer Journey

Keep an eye on your site’s accessibility throughout the customer journey, because nothing can be done if users are unable to navigate it. Make sure your website meets the auditory, cognitive, neurological, physical, and visual standards, as well as the needs of your target audience. Keep in mind the different types of visitors based on the devices they use (mobile, desktop, and smart TVs), their age, any physical limitations, and the region they live in.

Have a Customer Journey map beside you when taking a UX Audit. By putting yourself in their shoes, you can understand people’s intentions when they arrive at your landing page and how they interact with all of the components on your website. Make every effort to draw their attention to the appropriate areas.

Stage 5: Record findings and make possible solutions. 

Don’t forget to keep track of everything you’ve accomplished up to this point. Put all of the data on one page to make it easier to organize and compare. Create a column for solution suggestions, and then have your entire team get down and decide on the next steps. Investing in the best UX Practices might help you come up with good solutions. 

Stage 6: Recommend solutions

With all of the UX/UI problems in mind, we offer step-by-step suitable solutions for each. We also create extensive reports that include roadmaps, quick wins, and strategic design orientations.

How does the UX Audit help increase revenues?graph

To demonstrate the significance of UX, consider a real-world example of a cafe. When you have a good coffee shop experience, you will:

  • Stay longer in the coffee shop.
  • Pay extra money to tip the staff members.
  • Want to befriend the waiters, waitresses, and other staff members at the cafe.
  • Be ecstatic to visit the place again. 
  • Ask for subscriptions to save you some money (because you know for a fact that you will go back to this place, a lot!)
  • Recommend the cafe to your friends.
  • Be faster and more efficient in picking your drinks. 

From a business standpoint, every one of these factors translates to a higher conversion rate, improved customer engagement, better brand loyalty, increased customer lifetime value, and, yes, more sales and revenue.

A good UX audit implementation makes major improvements to your digital marketplace. If you spend 10% of the development budget on UX, you’ll get an 83% conversion lift – according to Jacob Nielsen’s research. Additionally, customers will be willing to pay more for the experience qualities that matter most to them. According to research by PWC, 43% of consumers prefer greater convenience, 42% would pay more for a friendly, welcoming experience; and 65% of U.S customers are more influenced by a positive brand experience rather than a brilliant commercial.

Conclusion 

A UX audit requires considerable investment in terms of time and human resources and money. However, its benefits to companies’ digital products are visible. By conducting a UX audit, you can optimize your websites and apps and promote conversions. 

So, are you ready to increase revenue on digital marketplaces? If you want to work with a team of experts who are passionate about creating exceptional designs that meet your business needs, then look no further than Lollypop Design Studio Vietnam. Contact us today to learn more about our services and how we can help you take your design to the next level.

Image