To deliver an amazing website experience you need to understand each visitor and what they want to see. You then engage them with targeted content so they stay longer, remember your brand, and are more likely to buy your product or service.

The first step to website personalization is collecting or accessing information about each visitor. This is then used to make decisions around what web content to show the individual. To make personalization manageable, like-minded visitors are usually grouped into categories that best fit their persona. Each persona is then assigned targeted content. Getting visitors on the right track requires some careful thinking. Like a train passing through Clapham Junction, passengers with the same ticket are mapped to the same destination.

Personalization Data Sources

There are a few approaches to learning about each visitor:

• Using known information: If you know the visitor's profile (age, gender, language, nuances, state-of-mind, etc.) you can use it to make your website more personal. Of course, this is easiest if the visitor is an existing lead or contact in your CRM which is integrated into your website.
• Observing behavior: Tracking visitor actions on the website indicates specific interests and creates a behavioral profile that can be used to apply personalization on future pages. Observable actions include selecting one tab before another, downloading a pdf, or abandoning a shopping cart. This type of personalization lags the direct method but can be more relevant and timely.
• Asking them directly: In the age of cookie consent notices, it's easy to just ask a few questions then use the answers to build a profile and personalize the website.

Personalization

Once you have the digital profile of the individual the next question is, "What do I personalize?". The possibilities are many and include:

• Page text
  • Render targeted content that better matches the visitor's profile.
  • Dynamically insert the visitor's location, company name, industry, etc.
  • Tweak headlines to better match the visitor's interests and needs.
  • Changes the language to improve the visitor's understanding.
  • Speak to the visitor's industry, job title, experience, etc. 
  • Consider the visitor's familiarity and stage in the sales funnel.
• Images
  • Align to known geographies to create a local look and feel.
  • Align with industries, interests, previous purchases, etc.   
• Page layouts
  • Reflect local website trends and languages.
• Calls to Action
  • Prepopulate forms with the region, state, and city.
• Tab exposure
  • Hide irrelevant sections of the website.
• Your list of customers
  • Highlight customers in the same line of business.
•  Downloads
  • Case studies, technical documents.
• Lost focus reminders
  • When exiting the website, remind visitors of items left in the cart.