Studio Hyperset

CERN engineers launched the first website in 1991. Since that time, the ways in which consumers become aware of, evaluate, and purchase new products and services has changed quite substantially. The basic structure and content components of a business website, however, have remained essentially unchanged.

Sites are usually generic and one-size-fits-all. With the possible exception of blog posts, they contain a single, fixed information set aimed at everyone (and therefore, ultimately, at no one). They use layers that often bury important information and CTA’s and assume visitors want to curate their own paths through the site. (Your site’s 50%+ bounce rate begs to differ.)

Content may be king, as Bill Gates argued in 1996, but, in this model, he’s more “vanilla John” than “rousing Henry.”

The Royal Prerogative

Tailoring information to different visitor types allows site managers to engage with prospects in a targeted manner and convert them at higher rates.

First, you’ll want to develop one or more “buyer personae,” that is, fictional representations of your ideal customers. By creating short blurbs about your ideal customers — answering questions such as, “What jobs do they have?, “What blogs and magazines do they read?,” “What do they do in their free time?” — you can develop a targeted content strategy aimed at this “character” and thereby “speak” directly to your business’ ideal customers.

Progressive website models make extensive use of buyer-persona-specific landing pages. While it’s tempting to use a good deal of information on this kind of landing page, highly-converting landing pages are much simpler. They have airy, streamlined aesthetics and use highly contrasting colors to trigger “social proof” actions.

Targeted blogging and other forms of content creation also help engage a website’s ideal customers. Armed with a buyer persona’s interests and pain points, site managers can engineer a targeted set of blog posts and supporting collateral (videos, infographics, eBooks, &c). This kind of targeted content has two effects: (a) it increases a business’ awareness and organic discovery opportunities and (b) it establishes a site as a trusted source of information. As such, when a visitor is ready to purchase, your business is first in his/her mind.

Takeaway

Instead of building and maintaining a one-size-fits all website, use targeted landing pages and content offerings to aim your online presence at ideal customer types.

Next Steps

Take stock of your site’s image/video/text content ratio and connect with users who learn in different ways — read more about ideal content ratios elsewhere on our blog.

If you’re interested in learning more about the ways targeted content can help your business build a next-gen online presence, download our eBook and infographic. We created them to help website developers, managers, and online marketers amp up lead generation, create targeted user experiences, and otherwise make more meaningful connections with website visitors.