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If you are not updating your site content to cater to the needs of your visitors you run the risk of becoming irrelevant and useless to your audience.
I realized this a few nights ago when I stopped by my local Target to find they had re-configured the entire floor plan.
Near the entrance there was a brand new books section filled with young adult novels (Harry Potter, Twilight - you know the stuff!). And, I had to fight my way through aisle upon aisle of swim wear to reach the men's apparel section which had been moved to the back.
While I felt a little lost and I had to embark on a little discovery tour it all made sense to me:
- Since it's the peak of the summer, they made sure beach and swim wear was most accessible.
- It was wise to introduce and promote the young-adult genre of books which is seeing tremendous growth in an economy where retail is generally hurting, and
- Given that it was my first trip to Target in 3-4 months I guess they don't cater to my demographic as much. So it seemed fair to push the men's clothing out of sight!
The same goes for your company website and here are some takeaways from this:
1. Highlight Your Best Performing Content
If something is popular, there is a higher likelihood that new visitors will enjoy it or get value from it like previous visitors. It is important to highlight your best performing content so you can convert more visitors to fans and ultimately into leads and paying customers.
2. Switch Out Offers Frequently
While you might be happy with the conversion rate of a certain eBook or white paper on your home page, sometimes your best targets are your repeat visitors. If there is nothing of interest or value to them on your site they are likely to bounce. Even a small tweak to the verbiage on a call-to-action can make a difference. For example, at HubSpot our music videos get a prominent spot on our home page every once in a while.
3. Target New Audiences
You should be on the lookout for new audiences and segments you can tap into. Create personas for your ideal buyers and you should add new content that caters to the newer personas that start to emerge from the sales and leads data you collect on your site. This might also mean you update your SEO efforts so keywords drawing traffic are related to your new personas' interests.
4. Break the Monotony, Not Your Back
Perception goes a long way in impacting how people react. You don't need to redesign your entire website to get a desired effect (where the recommended desired effect is more conversions, not flattering comments). Move sections around or swap out images that reflect your brand and note the impact in your analytics tools. If you have a content management system (CMS), you can always change things back to the way they were easily.
Are you guilty of static content or are you face with a challenging redesign project you're not sure will yield results? Please share your thoughts with us in the comments.
Photo credit: seriykotik1970
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