Covid-19 information landing page update
We have updated the Covid-19 information landing page by analysing usage data to understand user needs in terms of our key purpose:
- helping staff and students to protect each other
- keeping our community informed about national and local guidance
- sharing resources and links to support networks.
We know that members of our community are keen to look after each other and do the right thing – with over 3,000 page visits to the Covid Code alone during in the past three months. However, since the Covid-19 landing page first launched in early March 2020 the volume of important pages has grown and the landing page was no longer aligned with the expanded content, or the way it was being used by users.
The landing page did not reflect what pages were within this section of the website, or the way it was being used by users.
Data
We looked at data collected over the past three months from Google Analytics and Hotjar to accurately determine how the pages within the section were being used.
Google Analytics
In terms of unique page views from 1 October 2020 to 1 January 2021, Google Analytics determined the top 20 pages as follows:
- Latest Covid numbers in St Andrews – 14,421
- Coronavirus information landing page – 10,293
- Christmas (page is no longer published) – 5,613
- Can Do guide – 4,639
- Current students – 4,590
- Covid Code – 3,253
- General information – 3,174
- Semester 2 – 2,864
- Travelling home at the end of Semester 1 – 2,384
- Travel advice for students – 2,131
- Prospective students – 1,579
- Staff – 1,231
- If you or someone you live with develops symptoms – 976
- Wellbeing – 608
- Wellbeing advice for students – 565
- Covid Rapid Response Team – 533
- Wellbeing advice for staff – 235
- Guides – 200
- New staff – 118
- Volunteering opportunities – 80
Hotjar
The heatmaps of the landing page determined that the majority of users clicked through to information for current students.
Desktop heatmap
179 sessions recorded 149 clicks
Mobile heatmap
159 sessions recorded 91 taps
Interpreting the data
It was clear that the latest Covid numbers in St Andrews was the most requested information from the site. This stood out highly among unique page views, and we determined that there should be a clear link to this page from the top of the landing page.
The Can Do guide and Covid Code were both highly viewed pages but were not initially linked to from the landing page. They were distributed through email and social media communications. It was important that the updated landing page clearly linked to these popular pages.
Current students are the highest volume of traffic to the pages. However, the landing page should not cater to the majority audience and must be useful to all audiences.
To balance this, we decided to feature a prominent link to information for current students, but have a clear “frequently asked questions” section on the page with links to cater to all audiences.
The updated landing page
Using existing components from our digital pattern library, we easily managed to update the landing page based on our findings.
The University updates the information on these pages as promptly as we can in response to changes in national Covid laws and guidance, and therefore it is likely that this page may change again in the near future.
View the updated Covid-19 information landing page.
Do you have any feedback?
We are commited to closely following the data trends and applying updates to the design accordingly.
If you have any feedback, positive or critical, on the usage of these pages, please feel free to contact us at [email protected].