The first website ever created was just basic text created in 1992 by CERN (European organisation for Nuclear research).
Websites have since come a long way since then, they now promote everything from business services to entertainment, and the vast majority of businesses now have a website as this is now expected from consumers.
As of today’s date, there are approximately 1,036,705,326 websites live (and counting), with around 2 websites going live every second around the globe. This means that it is more important than ever to personalise your website journey, offerings, and experience to stand out from the crowd, but more importantly, make your business memorable.
Here are a few tips on what you could be doing to personalise your website, to give your users a unique and enjoyable experience:
Employ Bespoke / Custom design
When branding is important, then a bespoke design is fantastic to communicate the core values of your brand and make your website stand out. Don’t feel afraid to try something new and wacky that makes people talk about your website.
Suggested products
Netflix implement this brilliantly:they personalise their whole experience around a customer's preferences - For example, if you watch action movies all the time, it picks up on this pattern and will suggest action movies for you to watch. This really makes the customer feel special and has many usability benefits enabling a user to find what they want in as little time as possible.
They personalise their whole experience around a customer's preferences - For example, if you watch action movies all the time, it picks up on this pattern and will suggest action movies for you to watch. This really makes the customer feel special and has many usability benefits enabling a user to find what they want in as little time as possible.
Amazon similarly uses ‘Similar product recommendations’:
This has said to have increased sales anywhere between 10% - 30% and now many other online retailers are looking to emulate its model. Why look for the products you need when they are already suggested right in front of you?
Waitrose and boots have launched customisable promotion schemes, whereby loyalty card holders have the choice and can customise which products that they get discounts on.
Very.co.uk personalise their homepage, based on the browser's behaviour:
If logged in, the homepage will display potential products based on the user's preference. So one person may have a homepage catered around clothing, whereas another user may have a homepage based around furniture and lifestyle products.
Location Based services
Target your visitors based on where they are located, such as networking events that are in your area, news articles that are about your local area, restaurants in your area, films that are playing in your local cinema. These are just some examples of the bigger picture, but location based services even further personalise the user journey.
Groupon does this well:
They promote that are available in your area and your dashboard is packed with offers that relate to what you want in your area. These are the kinds of services that personalise a user journey and provide the most relevant and local information available to each user.
At Scorchsoft, we look at the bigger picture and advise on how you can differentiate within your industry and do things differently. We can advise on ideas that you may have, and help you to refine these ideas and create something truly unique to make your business stand out. Contact us for a free no-obligation quote.
