A Comprehensive Guide to Designing B2B Websites, Part II

When our team first connects with a client in the business-to-business (B2B) space, we know we’re going to need a different approach than for a consumer focused project. The good news is that designing and building B2B marketing websites has been core to our business since the beginning.

In this five-part series, we review the critical elements to keep in mind to drive your B2B website project to success.

Understanding the target audience and user journey through the long purchase decision helps develop a content strategy that supports user needs at every point of the funnel. At times, content needs to be concise and punchy, while at other times it needs to provide in-depth detail. For the B2B audience, it always needs to be authoritative.

B2B homepage content needs to quickly convey who the company is, its value proposition, establish credibility, and engage the user in next steps. This needs to be accomplished without slowing a scanner’s momentum. Deeper content needs to show the depth and breadth of products and services in straightforward terms.

Take time to understand the specific content needs of the audience. For example, CTOs or CIOs have vastly different content expectations than engineers or end-users, and most B2B sites need to accommodate both ends of the spectrum.

Key components of B2B content strategy include:

• Messaging platform
• Audience profiles, needs and objectives
• Content audit and identifying what is working
• New content plan based on messaging platform and audience
• Content types
• Content ownership
• Content workflow and publishing process
• Content governance planning

Content is often the biggest threat to a website project timeline and also has a profound impact on the B2B customer. Start immediately, and take the time to get the strategy — and execution — right.

For more B2B insights, continue with Part III — User Experience Design.

Originally published at WebEnertia | Blog.