If Netflix has you hooked, then it won’t take you long to get your head around the concept of smart content loading. Have you noticed that today the ads on your computer screen are selling you exactly what you were searching for yesterday? We’re moving into a world where user data is personalising our online experience, and customers are happy to hand over their details for the right results. It’s no wonder 47% of consumers check Amazon if they’re unsatisfied with the products suggested by the brand they’re shopping with – the personalised shopping experience is too good to resist. Well, now there are increasing opportunities for smaller businesses to tap in on this consumer impulse.
What is Smart Content?
Smart Content refers to the dynamic elements of your website that change depending on the site user profile. Instead of being restricted to typical static content, which stays the same for everyone, smart content offers some important benefits: it targets individual customers with a personalised experience, and also increases site loading times. These things combined mean that a website with smart content loading built in will drive significantly higher conversion rates and ROI than one without.
How does Smart Content Loading work?
In order to determine which tailored content to show when a unique user visits the site, smart content responds to demographic/firmographic user data (age, gender/business details) as well as behavioural (on-site activities and history) and contextual data (location, device type, time of day). This way, websites can optimise their content to increase engagement through offering visitors only the most relevant material. For example, your smart content system could tweak a landing page instantly when it knows a certain user has visited the page before, offering them a new and more relevant response the second time around. By finding out who your customers are, you can offer a friendly, personal service that keeps them coming back again and again.
Smart Content saves waste
Site loading speed is always a priority for engaging users. But businesses are also increasingly opting for smart content loading with the same aims of maximising page visits, time on site, and reducing bounce rates. As a development of “lazy loading”, whereby site images are only loaded when necessary, smart content loading websites limit downloads to the necessary content for a particular user, saving time by withholding unnecessary text and images.
When should you use smart content loading?
If your potential leads have varying needs, interests, desires, or character profiles, then you should employ using smart content loading.
Some examples of the types of smart content you might create include targeted blog posts and articles, personalised calls-to-action and case studies, discounts and offers, and video content. You don’t need to go full steam ahead to begin with, but gradually segmenting the traffic to your site will enable you to make the most of your business online and keep those potential leads returning.
However, the aim is to offer a personalised, suitable experience without appearing overly familiar… no customer wants to feel like they’re being watched without remembering giving permission, so there are some things to avoid, too. For instance, unless it is a situation where the user will definitely remember their prior visit to the site, smart content loading should avoid using a user’s personal details such as their name and location.
Technology is creating amazing opportunities for small businesses online, including smart content loading. If you feel like your business is too small, or too far behind the current internet trends, you’re wrong! There’s never been a better time to join in with the excitement of web development and help your business outcompete the rest.
Get in touch for website advice, or read about more top website trends for 2021 in our blog.
