From a train to a transit system: enabling self-directed user journeys
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Presented at World IA Day Toronto, 2023 When we publish our org chart, the user of our website pays the price: the content they need to complete a journey may be spread across many different parts of a website, or even across different websites for the same company. If instead we organize the website around audience needs and interests, we can accommodate users starting their journey at many different points, and enable them to explore and progress on their own terms. A website organized around audience needs has the potential to improve search rank, engagement, and journey progression, by logically connecting content across the website in ways that both Google and the user can understand and navigate. In this presentation I'll share our rationale, as well as the results of our first steps towards applying a topic-oriented IA to our website.
From a train to a transit system: enabling self-directed user journeys
- 1. Β© Avalara β From a train to a transit system: enabling self-directed user journeys Michael Priestley Information architect and taxonomist for Avalara.com
- 2. 2 Β© Avalara Awareness Considerati on Purchase Retention Journeys are linear and one-way β The simple lie I have a problem or need for X I find out you have products that help me with X Yay! I buy it! And Iβve got everything I need to stay a happy and productive customer! Thought leadership Solution pages Product pages Documentation
- 3. 3 Β© Avalara Journeys wander and backtrack and explore β The messy truth βWe know that what happens between trigger and purchase decision-making is not linear. We know there is a complicated web of touchpoints that differs from person to person.β How people decide what to buy lies in the βmessy middleβ of the purcha se journey Alistair Rennie, Jonny Protheroe/July 2020 Think with Google
- 4. 4 Β© Avalara Explore Evaluate People need access to a range of content that is connected and navigable β What that means Guides Blog posts Customer stories Events Solution pages Product pages Demos Partners Developer content Product docs Training Trials Understand X Evaluate product for X
- 5. 5 Β© Avalara Explore Evaluate Content is siloβd by type, stage, org β We donβt make it easy Guides Blog posts Customer stories Events Solution pages Product pages Demos Partners Developer content Product docs Training Trials Understand X Evaluate product for X Menus Resources Blog Customer stories Events None Sites Marketing Partner Developer Docs Training Often, easier to go back to google than to find your way to the next page youβre looking for
- 6. 6 Β© Avalara Everything a journey needs under a few related menus We could make it easier Each topic menu collects learn and solution content along with resource hubs that connect with shared content resources Explore: Topic menus Evaluate: Product menus Blog Events Customer stories Site menu Shared content resources with catalog pages that connect to topics and products Each product menu collects product details, demos, and docs along with resource hubs that connect with shared content resources Top-level site menu provides fast access to content by topic, product, type, or stage
- 7. 7 Β© Avalara β Examples - topic menus Site menu Topic menu Site menu Topic menu
- 8. 8 Β© Avalara Easy to add without reworking page content Easy to find at the top of the page without taking up lots of room Tells users where they are by underlining the dropdown for the current page Tells users where they can go next by providing content related to their interest Tells Google our coverage for this subject Easy to scale β reorganize sites without touching folder structure or page content Menus are low effort and high value β Why focus on menus?
- 9. 9 Β© Avalara Menu home General By state Topic products Related Solution page Topic resources Regional resources Product A Related solution X Topic guide Product B Related solution Y Implementation resources Using topic clustering to land and engage under a common menu β Connect the dots βPillarβ page for commercial intent βPillarβ page for navigation intent βPillarβ page for info intent Region-specific content gets local traffic Simple product pages specific to a topic can share the same menu Page that links out to related help, training, dev content with backlinks Link out to related clusters
- 10. 10 Β© Avalara Closely related clusters can be managed as a single supercluster β Connect the lines Menu home General Subtopic 1 Subtopic 2 Related Solution page Topic resources Subtopic resources Subtopic resources Related solution X Topic guide Subtopic guide Subtopic guide Related solution Y Subtopic regional Subtopic solution Product B (link out) Same βpillarβ pages for different search intents Each drop down collects journey for a subtopic Journey leads to a solution page that links out to products with their own menus Or skip solution and link out directly to product Same links out to related topics
- 11. 11 Β© Avalara Impact on engagement for regional page visitors β Journey impact (2 months before/after change) Homepage General Subtopic 1 Subtopic 2 Subtopic 3 Solution page Topic resources Subtopic resources Topic guide Subtopic guide Subtopic guide Subtopic guide Subtopic regional Product A (link out) Product B (link out) Product C (link out) Past performance is no guarantee of future results Numbers are approximate +40% engagement +260% from regional +150-400% from regional +5-20% visitors from regional For journeys starting here
- 12. Β© Avalara 12 β What will it take to scale? To get past the org chart, you have to go through the org chart Topic menu Product menu Blog Events Customer stories Content marketing, product marketing, audience marketing have to collaborate on priorities and gap filling Product marketing, developer marketing, product docs, training, support, and product experience have to collaborate on sharing a menu or at least reciprocal links Every team that publishes content about either topics or products has to adopt a common taxonomy and provide consistent backlinks to pillar pages