One of the biggest mistakes a corporate website can make is to believe that the site isn't on the ground floor with the customers. Just because the corporation itself may interact less with individuals, instead relying primarily on retail locations and customer service centers, doesn't mean the site isn't one of the first places impressions may be formed. Especially when a corporation has decided to bring in an e-commerce element to their website, things can get tricky. How can a corporate website support this shift to bring in more conversions?

That's why we're running a four-part series on user experience for corporate websites, starting here. In the last decade, we've built our share of corporate websites--and this series will serve as a condensed version of the information you'll need to know when deciding which user experience elements might need improving to drive your conversion rate. We'll overview various elements of user experience that apply specifically to corporate websites, including content structure, navigation, multiple media issues, and how to create a consistent experience for your audience between your boardroom and online presence.

For corporate websites without an e-commerce element, tracking and testing the affect of user experience on your conversion rate will have a larger margin of error--but we've touched on a simple statistical method you can apply to use as a success metric. Regardless of how you'll track conversions--and whether they occur on or offline, or both--this series will help explain the various user experience factors that can determine whether or not a customer converts.

So let's get started. How does content structure matter? Can the right content structure actually improve conversions?

1. Structure like a grocery store

Ideally, before you sit down with a copywriter to create your content, you'll create a valid content structure that supports your users--first and foremost--and bots, for SEO purposes. This helps your copy be the most effective it can be; your content is largely where your converting power lays.

Grocery stores, like most retail stores, are structured to direct traffic in a very specific pattern; from the moment you set foot in their location, you're being guided along a predetermined path, probably without knowing it. Your content structure should be sectioned out like that grocery store: your fresh items and sales right in front--but before that stands your storefront, your landing page. This is your top umbrella under which all your content will fall.

Consider how your users should be going through the site. After they clear your top produce, what are they looking for? If your sales staff tends to get swamped with questions every time a promotion launches, make sure this information is accessible from the point the users would be standing. For example and to continue the grocery store metaphor, you would place information about the pineapple sale beside the pineapples, not the yogurt. You might also include new pages discussing the health benefits of pineapple, recipes that use pineapple, and a list of fun crafts using pineapples that parents can do with their children. Give your users a section for each item they need to know. Depending on your SEO tactics, these could be in-frame section items or separate-but-linked pages (as discussed in Point 2, below).

Walk through your site from beginning to end as each of your different type of users, and lay out the paths you want them to take. Potential investors likely aren't interested in your latest promotion, but they will want a section on your board of directors right up front. For customers who will also visit a brick-and-mortar location, ensure that this information is promenient. And for the users who are learning who you are? Makre sure that they are encouraged to find the same path a sales rep would walk them through on the site.

2. Focus, silo, section

The ideal content structure streamlines your users, reducing unnecessary distractions and items that dilute your message. By creating distinct paths for your different user types to follow, you're able to focus specifically on providing the value they want.

In SEO terms, this is generally referred to as "siloing." Think of it like a grocery store aisle. Each silo should be centered on a specific user type and topic, allowing you to speak to them directly and use a specific all to action. This type of structure reduces your bounce rates, relieves customer service calls, and improves the content's SEO value--all because your users can find the information they want easier and quicker. Be sure to test all links and menus that bridge the silos.

Similarly, sectioning off specific types of content may increase conversions, especially if the website has minimal above-the-fold real estate. In other words, whereas you place your most valuable content in more visible places on your website, you want to place secondary content so that it's easily accessible when not above the fold. An example of this would be a section on your location(s): by listing your address(es) in the footer, your users aren't forced to dig two or three pages to find a section of simple information. It probably wouldn't be appropriate to place this above the fold, but by sectioning it off, you increase visibility.

3. Structure for your call to action

Are your users getting to the finish line? If not, where are they getting lost? Do they get bored around the holiday special aisles and leave? If many of your users visit only a small percentage of pages of the website, structuring your site for your call to action can increase your conversion rate. After all, we're all busy. Place your call to actions in several, highly visible places along their paths. And--most importantly--make it as easy as possible for them to take your call to action.

This may involve running a sidebar or a section within the header, and testing is likely your best bet for determining call to action locations (as this can vary greatly between industries). But keeping the areas where your users will actually convert in mind and making the path their as short and simple as possible will put you on the right track.

Recommended reading for content audits

1. Does Your Site Copy Make These 7 Common Mistakes?

2. Why Web Copy Should Be For Real People

3. The Most Important Element of Content Marketing: Research

4. The No-Nonsense Guide to SMB Content Strategy

Content structure affects conversions by dictating how a user may convert, just as a salesperson directs a lead through the buying process. Content structure audits are generally recommended at the end of each fiscal year as you re-evaluate your online strategy. Have you seen changes in conversion rate based on content structure tests? Let us know in the comments below!