Last updated Mon Dec 09 2024
Website Personalization: Types, Steps, Expert Tips [Guide]
Website personalization is a powerful strategy available to businesses of all sizes.
That, of course, includes yours. In fact, you may already have most of the customer data you need to get started. Even if you don't, you can still get a great start by making onsite campaigns (banners, discount popups, live chat messages, sticky bars, etc.) that target different groups of visitors.
This guide is here to help you get a handle on website personalization, show you how to use it in your business, and offer some ideas to get good results quickly.
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What is website personalization?
Website personalization is the process of tailoring web pages and onsite campaigns to preferences, behavior, and characteristics of individual visitors and visitor groups based on the data collected about them, both in real time and over time.
Website personalization is an important part of onsite marketing, which aims to combine all tools (web pages, chat, popups, sticky bars, forms, etc.) into one coordinated personalization plan. Both strategies have become especially relevant today because of the high cost of external channels like ads and the opportunity to personalize at scale.
Related:
How website personalization impacts conversions
Here are some of the most important benefits of personalizing websites.
Higher conversions
This is the ultimate benefit of an effective website personalization strategy. When visitors get personalized experiences, they are more likely to interact positively with the site, complete desired actions, and make purchases.
In fact, studies show that 41% of online shoppers are "highly likely" to switch to businesses that provide personalized offers and experiences.
Easier product discovery
Increased relevance of marketing messages and higher customer engagement are key outcomes of effective website personalization strategies.
By promoting products and offers that align closely with visitors' and customers' interests and needs, you can help them find the right options more quickly. For example, if you give a discount for the product category a visitor bought from before and visited a few times, they may be more likely to convert.
Reduced decision fatigue
"Decision fatigue" is a term for the feeling of being overwhelmed by too many options, leading people to avoid making a decision altogether.
Website personalization helps to reduce "decision fatigue" by giving visitors personalized experiences and relevant marketing offers. Product recommendations are one of the best examples because they narrow down the choices and suggest products the visitor is more likely to be interested in.
Types of website personalization
There are many ways in which you can personalize your web content and marketing to engage more visitors and customers.
Behavioral personalization
Here, personalization is based on the browsing and shopping behavior of visitors. Common examples include upsell messages when a visitor adds an item to the cart, product recommendations based on viewed items or categories, and the cost of products added to the cart.
Contextual personalization
Websites and onsite campaigns are tailored based on three key factors: technology (devices and browsers used by visitors), season (Christmas promotions, Mother's Day sale, etc.), and time of the day (promoting a same-day delivery in the morning or flash sales that last just a few hours).
Geographic personalization
Free shipping to a certain area, season-based promotions, or localized website versions—these are some the examples of personalizing for the geolocation of a user. The content and offers can be personalized on the information such as country, state or region, and city.
Traffic source personalization
Online businesses can customize content and onsite campaigns for visitors coming from different sources, including organic search, paid ad campaigns, directly, and social media. For example, you can show a tailored offer only to visitors coming from organic search.
Account-based personalization
The goal here is to show customized marketing offers to registered customers and visitors who haven't made a purchase yet. For example, new customers may get a first-time buyer discount code, while registered customers can get loyalty bonuses.
Content personalization
This type of website personalization involves dynamically changing sections of a web page (text, images, discounts, recommendations, or promotions) to match the preferences of individual visitors. The best example is product recommendations based on the browsing and purchase history of a particular visitor.
Intent-based personalization
Based on the actions a visitor takes on a website, this type is mostly about campaigns triggered by real-time visitor behavior, such as exit-intent offers. These campaigns (mostly exit popups) appear when a visitor is about to leave the website and include discounts, personalized limited-time offers, reminders of unfinished purchases, lead magnets, or other incentives.
Expert comment
Should you use all these types of personalization on our website?
"Not necessarily. It depends on your business goals and target audience. But I'd say that ecommerce stores, for example, should focus on behavioral, traffic source, account-based, intent-based and content personalization, while B2B companies should prioritize intent-based, content, and account-based personalization."
Pawel Lawrowski, a CRO expert, Wisepops
Website personalization ideas
Here are simple yet effective ideas that successful online businesses use to deliver personalized website experiences.
Welcome message for returning visitors
Try a personalized welcome message for those visiting your website for the second (or more) time. This way, you'll create a more meaningful and personalized interaction.
TOMS Shoes, an ecommerce retailer, created this campaign for returning visitors who didn't sign up for mobile alerts. Using this website personalization tactic also allows to build both email and phone number lists for nurturing.
A website personalization tip from the marketing team at Yespark
Create dedicated campaigns for new and returning visitors to maximize lead generation. This applies not just to the content but to the campaign format as well.
Personalized product recommendations
To encourage visitors to browse more pages and increase sales, OddBalls uses an AI algorithm to serve customized product recommendations to each visitor, regardless of their account status.
The list of products is displayed in a social media-inspired feed with notifications, which is easily accessible from any page. To boost sales, AI Wishlist lets visitors choose item sizes and add them to the cart directly from the feed.
"The notification feed at OddBalls has been instrumental in helping us to gather data, assist conversion rates, promoting new launches and ultimately generating revenue since we launched it. It's a fantastic feature that has been in use for over a year... We highly recommend the use of the feed for all stores."
Dan Mitchell, Ecommerce Manager, OddBalls
Learn more
See how OddBalls uses onsite notifications to personalize product recommendations and onsite campaigns
Product quizzes
Quizzes can be super helpful in choosing the right products, so almost 20% of Shopify businesses are using them.
Syos is one of them. This store offers 3D-printed saxophone and clarinet mouthpieces, which can definitely be tricky to choose. That's why there’s a quiz to help out, and it pops up only after a new visitor checks out a couple of products:
Targeted messages based on browsing history
Along with cookies and customer accounts, browsing history is the best way to collect data to create a personalized website experience.
Example: Dolce & Gabbana shows a small message promoting the latest men's collection, a category I viewed during previous visits. Also, note that the message appeared on the "women's bestseller" page.
Geolocation targeting
Segmenting visitors based on their geolocation helps serve them personalized web pages and content. This helps ecommerce stores to offer location-based promotions, local fees for shipping, and items available only in specific countries.
For instance, when visitors arrive on the DB Journey website, they are immediately asked to select their shipping country.
Relevant limited-time offers
Online businesses can increase revenue in ecommerce by showing personalized time-sensitive offers based on customer data (visited pages, purchase history, etc.). For instance, if a shopper looks at several products within a specific category, you can offer them a limited-time discount code valid only for purchases from that category.
Example: Shutterstock offered a discount only on packs of videos, making it a good deal for anyone looking for that format:
Need more ideas?
Check out 10 examples of ecommerce personalization
How to start implementing personalization on a website
Personalizing websites can seem complex, but starting with a structured approach makes it manageable and even easy.
Here are some simple ideas for a start.
Quick website personalization ideas to implement today:
🛍
Idea #1: Sell more on autopilot with AI-generated product recommendations.
Grab an AI Wishlist app for Shopify, activate on your store, and track revenue automatically. For more options, check out product recommendation tools.
📧
Idea #2: Personalize your lead generation by creating a dedicated email signup campaign for returning visitors.
Grab a popup tool, create a campaign, and choose "Returning visitors" in display rules. Connect your email marketing software and convert returning visitors.
📦
Idea #3: Speed up product discovery with a quiz that generates personalized recommendations based on answers.
Grab a quiz tool in this list of ecommerce tools and get a popup and form software to drive more visitors to your quiz.
Step 1: Collect and analyze your customer data
Deep dive into your marketing and analytics software (GA4, CRM, heatmap tools, etc.) to collect information from your visitors, such as their browsing behavior, purchase history, and demographics.
Analyze this data to identify patterns and preferences that can inform your web personalization strategy. Next, determine target visitor groups who you want to personalize your website for registered, high spenders, new visitors, etc.).
Here are some of the most common campaigns and data required for them:
Visitor group | Website personalization campaigns | Data needed |
---|---|---|
New visitors | Welcome popup with a first-time customer offer | Traffic source, number of visits |
Show bestsellers or trending products on the homepage | Site-wide sales data | |
Returning visitors | Personalized homepage or page sections showing recently viewed items | Browsing history, number of visits |
Banners and sections with products based on past browsing behavior | Browsing history | |
Registered customers | Exclusive loyalty program offers on web pages or in onsite campaigns | Purchase history, account details |
Dynamic banners and onsite notifications highlighting items from saved wishlists | Browsing history, wishlist data | |
Cart abandoners | Exit-intent popup offering a discount on abandoned cart items only | Exit intent detection, cart content detection |
Urgency messages on product pages, like “The item in your cart is almost sold out!” | Cart contents, stock levels | |
High spenders | Personalized recommendations for products or bundles | Order history, average order value |
VIP welcome banner with exclusive discounts and offers | Total spend amount, frequency of purchases |
Expert comment:
Consider targeting your high spenders first to grow your business faster.
To find them, check the data like average order value, customer lifetime value, and the frequency of buying. You can use this information in your ecommerce CRM or analytics software.
Step 3: Choose personalization types
These include behavioral targeting, intent-based targeting, account-based targeting, content personalization, geolocation targeting, etc.—any of the ones we described above.
Once you've chosen the types, create campaigns for specific audiences.
To see which personalization strategies fit specific scenarios, here are a few great examples for an ecommerce store.
Website personalization type | Campaign examples | Description |
---|---|---|
Behavioral personalization | Show product recommendations based on recently viewed items | Re-engages visitors with relevant products, increasing conversion chances |
Display upsell offers such as add $10 more for free shipping | Encourages higher cart value and boosts overall revenue | |
Contextual personalization | Promote same-day delivery or breakfast-related items in the morning | Aligns offers with visitor needs at specific times, improving relevance |
Highlight seasonal promotions like Christmas sales or summer collections | Timely campaigns resonate better, driving higher engagement and purchases | |
Traffic source personalization | Offer exclusive discounts for social media visitors like 20% off via Instagram | Increases ROI on paid ads by matching on-site offers to ad creatives |
Show tailored banners for organic visitors such as get free resources for first-time users | Engages high-value traffic effectively |
Website personalization case study
émoi émoi boosted sales by 20% by using AI-powered behavioral personalization for product recommendations.
Step 4: Use apps for automation
To make implementing personalization easier, consider using tools and apps designed specifically for this purpose. These can include AI-powered product recommendation tools, popup and form software, quiz builders, and more.
Find top-rated options for you:
AI tools for ecommerce (for product recommendations, creating texts and other content)
Best popup tools for Shopify (for targeting different visitor groups with popups on Shopify)
Exit-intent popup software (for intent-based campaigns)
Step 5: Test and optimize
This can be done through A/B testing, where you compare the performance of different personalized elements on your website. Use the data from these tests to continually improve and refine your personalization strategy.
Check out these conversion rate optimization software for A/B testing platforms, heatmaps, and visitor recording tools.
Related:
Step 6: Monitor results
Keep a close eye on the impact of your web personalization efforts on key metrics such as conversion rates, sales, and customer satisfaction. Use this data to make informed decisions about future personalization strategies.
Consider these tips for effective monitoring and improvement:
Track revenue attribution: Measure how personalization contributes to sales or upselling (web personalization tools have goal and revenue tracking)
Divide reporting into customer segments: Analyze results for different visitor groups (new vs. returning visitors) to identify specific improvements
Get user feedback: Collect insights through website surveys or popup forms to understand what visitors think of your personalization efforts
Summary
Website personalization is not merely a strategy—it's a game-changer that directly influences customer engagement and satisfaction. By understanding your customer preferences and behaviors, you can craft experiences that not only meet expectations but exceed them, driving loyalty and growth.
Learn more about marketing from our blog:
Try different texts: how to write engaging descriptions for products
Experiment with incentives: 20 ideas for discount and coupon codes
See how successful businesses personalize web pages: examples and ideas for ecommerce website design
Oleksii Kovalenko
Oleksii Kovalenko is a digital marketing expert and a writer with a degree in international marketing. He has seven years of experience helping ecommerce store owners promote their businesses by writing detailed, in-depth guides.
Education:
Master's in International Marketing, Academy of Municipal Administration
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