Information Structure: Importance and Benefits
In the Information Age the rules of the marketplace are shifting from push to pull. It takes almost nothing to produce and stock one more item, while consumers enjoy more buying power, variety, and information. It is getting harder to reach consumers and convince them to buy anything. The name of the game is to make it easy for customers to find what they need when they need it. It means understanding your visitors and how they interact with your web site, and providing cleaner design, better search and navigation. The experience is the brand. Site structure shapes people's image of your company and either creates or destroys value. Frequent negative experiences hurt the brand and decrease the number of repeat visits and conversions. Efficient site structure enhances user ability to find the necessary information and complete specific tasks on your web site; facilitates understanding, influences identity and credibility, and thus is closely connected to your strategy, sustainable competitive advantage, and long-term profitability.
Over the years leading firms have made a compelling case for ROI in web site information design due to the following factors:
Reduced Costs
- reduced cost of finding information, e.g. the cost of frustrating your customers with a poorly organized web site, poor navigation
- reduced cost of finding wrong information
- reduced cost of not finding information, e.g. duplication of effort; call center workload from customers who hate navigating your site; less customers unable to find products
- reduced cost of construction: initial cost of building and designing a site without a clear roadmap of the process;
- potential redesign expenses due to future site browsing, search, and scalability problems
- reduced cost of maintenance: good design remains consistent over time, adding/removing new content made easy
- reduced cost of employee training: less complicated systems are easier to use
Increased Value
- increased value of brand and improved brand loyalty: if customers can't find what they need your brand loses value in their eyes
- increased product awareness: customers are educated about your new products and services
- clearer communication: customers, partners, employees, investors, all users can expect an accurate and consistent message from the company
- improved knowledge sharing and reduced reliance upon documentation
- improved user experience
- improved search engine visibility
- increased sales
- solidified business strategy and competitive advantage
The impact of information structure is so significant that even seemingly minor improvements can have a dramatic effect. That is why we recommend using our structure optimization services
