Supercharge your website strategy: The impact of adaptive websites on user experience

The problem of today is that creating a successful website strategy goes far beyond just having a presence online. It’s about creating a customer experience that not only meets but exceeds expectations, leading to increased engagement, conversions, and long-term customer satisfaction. That’s why having a generic website is no longer enough; it must be intelligent, responsive, and, most importantly, adaptive. But what does “adaptive” really mean?

An adaptive website is designed to respond to the unique preferences and behaviors of each visitor. For example, it might show different content or layouts based on a visitor’s location, browsing history, or interests. This personalization helps visitors find what they’re looking for more easily and makes their experience more relevant.

To get to the heart of this, I reached out to two of my colleagues, Bernard Jan and Jouko, who are experts in adaptive websites. Here’s what they had to say.

A successful website strategy starts with a user-centered mindset, asking, "Who is going to visit this website?”

Typically, you'll find that different types of visitors, or personas, frequent your website. Yet, many websites offer the same generic experience to everyone, which isn’t optimal for all users. One of the key benefits of adaptive websites is their ability to tailor content and experiences to individual users. This personalization makes the website more engaging and leads to higher conversion rates.

As Bernard Jan put it, "Adaptive websites provide experiences for your customers that are more relevant, converting better because you adjust the content to every visitor."

Benefits of Adaptive Websites

When discussing how adaptive websites contribute to achieving business goals, Bernard Jan emphasized three critical levels:

1. Visitor satisfaction: By delivering a more personalized and streamlined experience, visitors are more likely to engage with the website and return in the future.
2. Website benefits: Increased engagement and higher conversion rates are direct results of a well-executed adaptive website strategy.
3. Business value: For businesses, this translates into more leads, higher sales, and ultimately, increased revenue.

While the benefits of adaptive websites are clear, deciding whether this approach is right for a business requires careful consideration. According to Jouko, there are two primary factors to consider: the importance of the website to the business and the diversity of the customer segments it serves.

"If your online channel is crucial to your business and you cater to multiple customer segments, then an adaptive website is highly relevant," Jouko noted.

Even for businesses with a singular focus, adaptive content can still provide significant value by better aligning with specific customer needs and journeys.

You might wonder if making your website adaptive is worth the cost.

"The additional cost of making your website adaptive is very low, especially when compared to the total investment in building a new website,” Jouko reassures.

Bernard Jan highlighted that advancements in AI and big data have made implementing adaptive content much easier. He explained that in the past, creating an adaptive website was a significant undertaking. But today, "creating an adaptive website requires about the same effort as building a traditional one," he said. "This removes the barriers that once made adaptive websites seem complex and costly."

These innovations have eliminated the excuses for sticking to generic websites when an adaptive one could greatly benefit your business.

Jouko adds that the real innovation lies in making these advanced features affordable and accessible, especially in the SaaS industry. "We’re here to bring innovation to the market, making it easier and more cost-effective for businesses to implement adaptive features," he said. "That’s what makes it smart, innovative, and functional."

One of the significant advantages of adaptive websites is the ability to use data and analytics to refine and optimize content strategies continually.

"Metrics are essential for the learning process," Jouko emphasized. "In today's dynamic environment, it's about planning, executing, checking results, analyzing, and then planning again. Metrics allow you to verify assumptions, identify what's working, and optimize accordingly."

Bernard Jan explained that businesses can track how different segments of visitors interact with adaptive content.

If your website targets both business owners and developers, you can tailor the content to each group—for example, showcasing ROI-focused content for business owners and technical content for developers. You then track how well each group responds, such as by measuring how many business owners download a white paper or how many developers sign up for a product trial.

"Regularly review and optimize this content, adjusting headlines or calls to action as needed. This way, you're not just applying a generic approach but customizing the experience for each segment, making it more effective and personalized.” Bernard Jan commented.

Looking ahead, adaptive websites are poised to become the norm rather than the exception. As awareness grows and technology becomes more accessible, more businesses will adopt adaptive strategies, especially outside of e-commerce where personalization is already common. While currently, about 95% of websites remain generic, the shift towards personalization is inevitable as the benefits become more widely recognized.

"We're at the early stages of adoption," Bernard Jan remarked. "But as more digital teams and strategists become aware of the possibilities, we’ll see a huge increase in adaptive websites across various industries.”

Moreover, the evolution of adaptive websites will inspire teams to explore new ways to personalize and enhance the user experience. As Jouko mentioned, "Starting with simple adaptive experiences can quickly lead to more complex and effective personalization strategies as the team sees the positive results.”

As Bernard Jan and Jouko highlighted, the time to consider an adaptive approach is now. By incorporating adaptive content into your strategy, you can ensure your business remains relevant, effective, and future-proof in the years to come.