Dynamic Content: What Is It and How to Use It

Dynamic content (also called adaptive content) is a part of a webpage or email that changes according to a user’s previous interactions with your online store.

For example, the content of your website could change depending on which pages a user has visited, which products they’ve added to their shopping cart, or how long they spend on your website.

Content can also be adapted based on past purchases or past engagements with your marketing (for example, your email marketing campaigns). User characteristics such as geo-location or buyer personas are other ways to create behavioral segments. You can use these to make content on an email or webpage relevant to the customer, making your online store more likely to convert.

To set up dynamic content on your website, you’ll need to use a website builder that uses a content management software (CMS) – a place where you can collect and monitor user data.

Most Squarespace have this feature. You may need to add custom code to create dynamic content, or use a third-party software such as Omniconvert.

For more inforamtion:

• Want to create quality dynamic content for your website? Read our Webflow review and check out the web builder used by the professionals.

Dynamic Content: Benefits

Having a website or email that adapts based on user needs is a really neat way of creating a great user experience for your customers. It makes it easier for them to navigate your online store, while the increased relevancy of the content will likely make them stick around on your website for longer.

Develop a personal experience for your customers by showing them content they want to see. Dynamic content also loads faster, meaning visitors to your website can move around with ease. These factors all contribute towards important metrics for your website such as conversions, bounce rate, return visits, and so on.

Dynamic Content: Risks

There are a few risks associated with dynamic content, which are useful to keep in mind. Firstly, using dynamic content means that you need to collect and store users’ personal data. So make sure you have sufficient protection of data and inform your visitors of the use of their data in your cookie policy.

There are also other technical risks to be mindful of. Duplicate content can occur when multiple web pages lack any significant change when Googlebot indexes them.

Avoid duplicate content by applying canonical tags. Canonical tags indicate to search engines that certain pages should be treated as copies of a certain URL, and that any rankings should actually be credited to the original page.

Keyword cannibalization can also happen when your site consists of multiple pages that are all competing for a top spot in the search rankings. When they use the same singular keyword or keyword phrase, they basically “eat” each other up in the process. As with duplicate content, applying canonical tags can fix this problem.

There are several different ways to present dynamic content to your customers. Here are a few of the most popular:

Newsletters and Emails

Newsletters and emails are probably the most popular and easiest way to use dynamic content. You can use it to customize emails based on visitors’ previous interactions with your brand.

For example, if they’ve already made a purchase, are yet to make one, or you simply want to show them products they could be interested in based on their past behavior. It’s a great way of keeping your emails relevant and personalized.

Landing Pages

Think of a landing page as a shop window to display what you’re selling. You can take it a step further by personalizing the content displayed to different users so they are more likely to click on a product that suits their interests.

Articles

Articles could be a blog post or thought leadership piece designed to increase awareness of your site and build your brand online. Dynamic content can help this content to be displayed properly on any device or screen size, making the article more responsive and viewable no matter where they access it from.

Forms and Purchases

Customize forms and purchase fields based on how the checkout is going, who the user is, and what their interests are. This improves the overall experience of your checkout, while making it more likely for your customers to fill out forms and give vital information for you to personalize their experience.

Product Pages

Show your customers product pages to cross-sell and match related items that they are interested in. You can also use dynamic content to promote offers such as sales and coupons, depending on their previous interactions with your online store.

Website Ads

Increase the relevance of the ads you show customers by displaying content that matches their interests. This creates a higher chance of interaction with the ad and a higher click-through-rate.

Ok, so by now you probably have a pretty good idea of what dynamic content is and how it works. But what about static content?

Well, static content has been around pretty much since the dawn of the internet. When you go to a website that looks the same every time you visit, it’s probably made using static content.

Static content is still widely used, and is much easier to implement than dynamic content. However, static content does not allow for personalization, and it could reduce the overall performance of your website.

Even though dynamic content can be more time consuming to set up, the results are well worth it. Here’s a little reminder of some of the benefits of using dynamic content:

• A better user experience
• Faster loading of web pages
• Increased conversion rates, bounce rates, and return visits
• Page layout does not break no matter what device people are using

Creating dynamic content that is effective, efficient, and works consistently can take time and effort. But the returns are worth it. Here are five top tips to consider when it comes to making your own dynamic content:

#1. Understand Your Users

How can you personalize content for people if you don’t know what they want? Take time to figure out how people are interacting with your website or email campaigns, and create thoughtful pieces of dynamic content that will give value to your customers.

#2. Monitor Your Content Performance

Keep an eye on how your content is performing, for example:

• Are people sharing your content?
• Are they leaving your web page too quickly?
• Why?

Constantly monitoring your content means you can adjust content that isn’t performing, and more closely align it with the interests of your customers.

#3. Optimize for Mobile

Be mindful of how your content will display on mobile or tablet devices. Testing content before it goes live is a great way of doing this. If you use a website builder like Squarespace, your content will often display properly on mobile and tablets automatically. It is still worth testing it though, just in case.

#4. Personalize Dynamic Content

Segment the data you collect from your users into different buyer personas – this is a great way of personalizing content to make it relevant for different audiences. You could also think about it in terms of the four main stages of a buyer’s life cycle:

• Attract
• Engage
• Convert
• Delight

Taking the time to create thoughtful, personalized experiences for your customers will help you develop a user experience that will stand out from your competitors.

#5. Start Small and Learn

When approaching dynamic content, it’s always best to start small, test the content, then monitor its performance. You can always add more dynamic content later. This minimizes risks associated with duplicate content and keyword cannibalization (described above), and means you can learn about how your users interact with the content as you go.

Without a doubt, personalization is king when it comes to content. And that’s why dynamic content is so effective – it allows you to create a unique, tailored experience for your customers that means they are shown content that is relevant to them.

Back in 2013, a study by Harris Interactive and Janrain showed that almost 75% of online customers get frustrated when they are shown content that isn’t relevant to them. The best websites make use of dynamic content to create swift loading, adaptable content that always seeks to meet user needs, wherever they are in the customer journey.