Does your online business cater to different audiences/markets? In other words, do you serve more than one type of customer? If so, then using website segmentation may help increase conversion rates and help you provide faster, more effective service to customers.
What is Segmentation?
Most web based businesses attract a variety of potential customers. Customers vary in age, gender, ethnicity, industry, personal interests, and geography. But each person that visits your site has a need for the information, products, and services you provide. The format in which you choose to display information on your site could influence whether they buy from you or not.
For example, if you own a furniture distribution company you may want to break up products by style, price range, geographic availability, materials, or by company name. This helps customers find exactly what they’re looking for in less time – which should result in more orders for your company.
Some businesses benefit more from segmentation than others. Whether to break up information, products or services into smaller, more searchable categories depends on how large your site is, how many products/services you offer, and how many markets you cater to.
Is Segmentation for You?
If you cater to multiple audiences/markets, segmenting your site into more manageable categories allows visitors to find what they’re looking for quickly and easily. This also allows you to market your business in a more personal way.
For example, if your business caters to businesses as well as individual consumers, you can create two pathways on your site – one that leads to business related products/services, the other to consumer related products/services. You can create two email newsletters with separate sign up forms and send different types of information and promotions to suit business segment and consumer segments needs.
Creating segments also allows you to create separate sales funnels to encourage sales. Your business customers may require more information such as free whitepapers and case studies before making a purchase, while everyday consumers may require 30-day money-back guarantee or free shipping.
Managing Different Segments
As your site grows, you may find breaking it up into different segments is a great way to maintain control. On the other hand, you may become overwhelmed with the additional work needed to cater to multiple markets. There’s no harm in giving segmentation a try. You can always make changes and go back to the way you used to conduct business. To segment or not to segment depends largely on the type of business you run and the amount of diversity your customer base has.