Building a Sitecore website empowers you to create stunning customer experiences that capture attention and drive engagement.
But a beautiful website is only half the battle. Ensuring optimal performance is critical. A slow, complicated or generic website will cause frustration for your visitors and may result in site abandonment.
This guide equips you with the tools to craft a high-performance Sitecore website that keeps visitors engaged and returning for more.
What is Sitecore?
Firstly, what is Sitecore? As a recognised leader in the Gartner Magic Quadrant, Sitecore DXP enables businesses to create cohesive, customer-centric experiences that drive engagement, conversion, and loyalty. It is used by enterprise brands for content, customer relationship management (CRM), and marketing automation, streamlining digital operations by centralising these functions. Whether you’re looking to improve customer experiences, increase conversions, or simplify content management, Sitecore is a powerful tool to help you reach your goals.
Optimised Content Strategy on your Sitecore Website
Efficient content management is the cornerstone of a high-performing Sitecore website. Content marketing costs 62% less than traditional advertising and generates 3x more leads. Sitecore’s intuitive interface simplifies content creation, organisation, and publishing. Leverage versioning and approval workflows to guarantee content accuracy and consistency.
- Plan and Structure: Before diving into content creation, take a step back and plan your website’s content structure. This includes defining content types (web pages, blog posts, product descriptions), categorising content, and establishing a clear hierarchy. A well-organised structure makes content easier to find for both editors and visitors.
- Content as a Team Effort: Sitecore facilitates collaboration. Utilise roles and permissions to ensure that the right people have access to create, edit, and publish content. Version control allows you to track changes and revert to previous versions if necessary. Approval workflows provide an extra layer of quality assurance before content goes live.
Personalisation: Powering User Engagement
75% of company executives believe personalisation is “essential.” Sitecore shines in delivering personalised user experiences. Leverage its analytics and tracking features to gain insights into user behaviour. Implement personalised content and recommendations to keep visitors engaged and satisfied. A well-crafted user experience fosters loyalty and drives conversions.
- Understanding Your Audience: Sitecore’s analytics provide valuable data on user demographics, interests, and browsing behaviour. Analyse this data to understand your audience segments and their needs. By creating buyer personas, you can tailor content and offerings on your Sitecore website to resonate with specific visitor groups.
- Delivering Personalised Experiences: Sitecore’s personalisation features allow you to dynamically adjust website content based on user data. This can include displaying personalised product recommendations, showcasing relevant blog posts, or tailoring calls to action. By delivering relevant content at every touchpoint, you create a more engaging and rewarding user experience.
Streamlined Navigation: A Frictionless Journey
Intuitive navigation is crucial for a positive user experience. Ensure your Sitecore website has a clear and logical structure that allows visitors to effortlessly find the information they seek.
- Designing a Clear Hierarchy: Sitecore allows you to build a hierarchical navigation menu with clear and concise labels. Organise your menu into main categories and subcategories, replicating the natural flow of your website’s content. Avoid cluttering the navigation menu with too many options, as this can overwhelm visitors.
- Leveraging Search Functionality: Sitecore’s robust search functionality empowers users to quickly find specific information on your website. Ensure your search function is prominently placed and easy to find. Implement features like autocomplete suggestions and faceted search to refine search results and expedite the user journey.
Unleash the Power of Mobile Optimisation
As of January 2024, people using mobile devices contribute to 59.01% of all website traffic. Optimise your Sitecore website for mobile users by implementing techniques like lazy loading, minification of CSS and Javascript, and prioritising critical content for faster rendering on smaller screens. Our teams are experts in developing and engineering omnichannel experiences.
- Prioritising Speed: Mobile users are impatient. Visitors abandon websites that take longer than 3 seconds to load. Utilise techniques like lazy loading, which delays the loading of non-critical elements until they are scrolled into view. This reduces initial page load time and improves the mobile experience.
- Responsive Design for All Devices: It is key that your Sitecore website adapts seamlessly to different screen sizes and devices. This includes optimising images, adjusting layouts, and ensuring buttons and forms are easy to use on touchscreens. By providing a consistent and optimised experience across all devices, you cater to your mobile audience and maximise engagement.
Seamless Integration with your Sitecore Website
Sitecore 10 and Sitecore XM cloud both integrate seamlessly with various third-party applications and across its own product suite. This allows you to extend functionality and tailor the platform to your specific needs.
- Extending Functionality with Third-Party Integrations: Sitecore boasts a rich ecosystem of third-party integrations. This allows you to connect your website with CRM systems, marketing automation platforms, e-commerce solutions, and more. You can streamline workflows, automate tasks, and gain a holistic view of your customer data by leveraging these integrations.
- Unifying the Customer Experience: Sitecore integrates seamlessly with its own product suite, including marketing automation, commerce, and customer service solutions. This enables you to create a unified customer experience across all touchpoints. For example, you can personalise marketing campaigns based on purchase history or provide targeted support based on website browsing behaviour.
Crafting a high-performance Sitecore CMS requires a comprehensive approach that encompasses content strategy, performance optimisation, responsive design, and a commitment to continuous improvement.
By leveraging Sitecore’s robust features and following these best practices, you can create a website that exceeds user expectations, establishes a benchmark for performance, and propels your digital presence to new heights.
Sagittarius are long-standing Sitecore Platinum Partners and a pure-play Sitecore agency. We have built thousands of successful Sitecore projects, helping customers create experiences that convert! Contact us to book a call and find out how we can help you maximise the ROI of your Sitecore solution.
