Creating an enterprise website is a complex process that requires upfront planning and strategy. Existing enterprise websites can have thousands of pages of content or even hundreds of microsites, making redesigning their design and information architecture difficult. Building an enterprise site from scratch also requires foresight to plan for situations and use cases that may not have occurred yet.
Working with enterprise clients has given us a unique perspective on what works and what doesn’t when designing digital experiences for them. Listed below are a few proven strategies.
- Acquaint yourself with user personas and internal stakeholders
- Be unflinchingly user-centric
- Prioritise mobile
- Focus on content depth and layout
Acquaint yourself with user personas and internal stakeholders
Understand your target audience before you can be relentlessly user-focused. At the enterprise level, this audience is likely diverse, with people coming from all over the country or the world, with varying roles and functions, and with varying goals. In order to design your site to meet your audience’s needs, you must identify and isolate the most important segments of your audience.
Internal stakeholders will also help shape the site’s architecture and design. Diverse stakeholders bring valuable insight into what customers want and need from the site experience. Marketing versus sales, or operations versus HR, for example, will have different perspectives. Seeing these differences will help you see where the biggest opportunities are.
Be unflinchingly user-centric
When planning a redesign or even a new site build, it’s easy to prioritize telling a story over telling the information your users need to hear.
While your website is the online face of your company, it must do more than just look good. Remember that your website exists to serve your users. Every website decision should be based on whether or not the end result benefits users.
Ask yourself what more you can do to exceed the user’s expectations, make their experience more enjoyable, and ensure they leave the site with a positive impression of your company, having achieved their goals.
Prioritise mobile
Every business with a website knows that the mobile experience is as important as the desktop experience. Mobile usability is essential for search visibility.
From the user’s perspective, poor mobile usability indicates that the brand either doesn’t care or is stuck in an era where desktop was the only thing that mattered. If left unchecked, these assumptions erode user trust, reduce site conversions, and harm your brand’s image.
It’s easy to see how designing mobile experiences, and especially retrofitting existing desktop experiences for mobile, becomes more difficult as content and navigation layers increase. But prioritizing mobile is worth the effort to keep users happy and boost sales. This is true for both B2B and B2C.
Focus on content depth and layout
Enterprise content needs are typically complex. As discussed previously, you must target specific user groups with specific content flows.
In terms of content, aim for a balance of breadth and depth. Too broad content lacks focus, while too narrow a strategy risks alienating users who don’t see their questions or needs addressed. Too much detail will lose your audience. You don’t go deep enough.
Almost as important as the content you create is how you present it to users. Remember that online attention spans are shrinking, so assume that most people won’t read or watch your content all the way through. Create content layouts that are easy to skim and highlight key points.
In Conclusion
With a little strategic planning and a well-executed process, creating effective digital experiences for enterprises is well within reach.
By focusing on the user’s needs and asking what will make the experience faster, more efficient, and more satisfying, you can build something that will engage and delight users of all sizes.