WHITE PAPER | 2019

How to structure B2B tech

website pages and content
to drive results
Using pages, content, and narrative to
generate success
Establishing your brand purpose and
point of differentiation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Identifying your audience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Shaping the audience experience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Crafting the narrative . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Telling your brand story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

White Paper | How to structure B2B tech website pages and content 2
When looking to design or revamp a business website, knowing
where to start can be a real challenge—especially for B2B
technology organizations, which have longer sales cycles and
more stakeholders to consider than most B2C businesses.
For companies with a wide range of technology, products, and
solutions, plus multiple personas to address, the information
architecture can be even more complex. This white paper will
help mid to large size B2B tech firms determine how to best
structure their websites in order to tell a compelling brand story,
generate leads, build relationships, and create effective journeys
to guide multiple personas down the path to purchase.

Establishing your brand purpose and point

of differentiation
The first step to designing an effective B2B website page and content structure is to clearly
define your brand’s positioning in the market. While this may seem obvious, it’s a vital step
that plays a huge role in determining success. Before you can communicate your brand story
to potential clients, you need to be clear about what that story is. Start by answering three
simple questions: Why should businesses buy your product or service? How are you different
from the competition? And who is your product for?

Start by establishing a strong brand positioning:

• Why should businesses buy your product or service?

• How are you different from the competition?
• Who is your product for?

Attention spans today are shorter than ever, which means you need to hook potential buyers
right away. If it’s not immediately clear why they should stay on your site, they’re likely to
move on. According to a Gallup study, B2B companies that report high client engagement
achieve 50% more revenue and 34% higher profitability. Starting with a strong brand
positioning will help you make user journeys meaningful, and create content that connects
with what’s really important to your audience.

White Paper | How to structure B2B tech website pages and content 3
 Examples of B2B Tech Websites with successful brand positioning

servicenow.com slack.com

qualtrics.com hubspot.com

Identifying your audience

Once you have solidified your positioning, think about what types of personas you need to
build relationships with to generate leads and drive sales. B2C websites speak to a broad
audience interested in purchasing a company’s products or service, and more often than
not, the purchaser is the consumer. Unlike B2C websites, B2B websites need to address
multiple personas ranging from C-level decision makers to technical users who are involved
in different aspects of the decision-making process and want specific information.

For enterprise-grade tech investments, the price point is high and the sales funnel is long.
Different people weigh in at different stages from initial interest to purchase, so it’s important
to structure your website so that each of these personas can easily find the information they
need at various stages of the buying journey. A Neilson Norman Group report found that
B2B website audiences are either “users” or “choosers,” with very distinct UX and content
expectations. In our experience, B2B technology prospects typically fall into three categories:
Decision Makers, Recommenders, and Users.

White Paper | How to structure B2B tech website pages and content 4
 DECISION
MAKERS
} • CTO
• CIO
• CSO
• VP, IT
• VP, Information Security
• VP, Cyber Security
• ...

RECOMMENDERS
} • Director
- IT
- IS
- Cyber Security
- ...
• Senior Manager
- IT
- IS
- Cyber Security
- ...

USERS
} • Engineers
• Analysis
• Developers
• Technical Support
• Technical Consultant
• Project Managers
• Testers
• ...

Decision Makers need to grasp the benefits and validate that your solution is a good fit for
their organization, not understand the nuances. Recommenders need to help short-list the
products being evaluated for Decision Makers. And Users need to dive deep into what your
products and solutions do and how they work. Your website content structure needs to
support this long, multi-audience, and complex purchase funnel.

CONTENT COMPLEXITY
Content page

USER PRODUCT PAGES

AUDIENCE

RECOMMENDER SOLUTION PAGES

Homepage

DECISION MAKER HOMEPAGE

HIGH-LEVEL DETAILED

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Shaping the audience experience
The next step in building a compelling narrative starts with identifying which key pages will
help tell your story while addressing the different audience types. This will help you structure
content effectively and efficiently. For B2B tech firms, there are four key pages to consider:
home, solutions, product, and about. Each page speaks to different audiences and plays a
different role. Top level pages (home, about) should contain high-level messaging and value
props. Second and third level pages (solution/product overview and detail pages) should be
more technical and avoid anything that feels like marketing.

{
• Homepage
B2B TECH • Solutions pages
KEY PAGE TYPES • Product pages
• About page

Let’s start with wireframes, which provide a framework for the information architecture and
flow. Think about the priority of content on each page, and where you want the various
personas you’re targeting to go, and structure content to guide them there.

Homepage
As the first page all of the various personas will see, the homepage has a big job to do. It
should read almost like a sales presentation, getting right to the point with clear and concise
information. Start by telling your audience who you are with your brand positioning message.
This should include what problems you address, and how you solve those problems. Next,
explain why they need you with high-level value propositions that resonate with all your key
audiences. This section will lead to the solutions pages, where you’ll provide greater detail
for Decision Makers and Recommenders.

Below your value props, tell your audience what you do by presenting your product portfolio.
This section will lead to the product pages, which offer Users more nuanced information.
Finally, prove why they should believe you with customer logos and success stories, analyst
reports, use-cases, and other compelling content.

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 Homepage structure

01. Who We Are

Typically a brand message
or positioning statement

02. Why You Need Us?

Challenges you solve for
companies addressing all
audiences

03. What We Do?

Your technology or
product portfolio

04. Why Us?

Validation such as
customer stories, analyst
reports, stats, customer
logos, testimonials

05. Thought Leadership

Insights, articles, reports

06. Promote Engagement

Free trial, schedule demo,
contact sales

Audience focus weight

Decision makers Recommenders Users

White Paper | How to structure B2B tech website pages and content 7
Solutions pages
Primarily aimed at Decision Makers and Recommenders, these pages tell the story of what
your products do. Solutions are not purchasable per se (that’s products), but rather highlight
product use cases to show how enterprises can use them to solve specific problems. You
want your audience to spend time here and really understand the value you can offer.

Start with an overview of the solution, then provide use cases that explain in greater depth
both the challenges and how the solution helps enterprises overcome them. From there,
show related products to dig deeper into the specifics. You should also address related roles,
which lets you get more granular and demonstrate how the solution impacts different industry
verticals, or types of jobs such as sales, marketing, or customer service. The goal is to get
your audience to see themselves or their company using your solution. Validate your claims
with things like customer stories, awards and accolades, and include a resources section to
show thought leadership. At the end of the page, push to the product pages and be sure to
include a CTA to contact a sales rep or get started to ensure there is always an action.

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 Solutions page structure

01. Solution Title

Can be specific to an
industry, application, or
a topic

02. Solution Overview

The challenge you are
solving for

03. Use Cases

Situations where your
product can be used
to solve the challenge

04. Related Products

06. Validation
Your related products that
solve the challenge Customer stories or
reports that demonstrate
success

05. Related Roles

Company roles that are
effected by the challenge
and solution

07. Promote Engagement

Link to a product and/or
start lead generation

Audience focus weight

Decision makers Recommenders Users

White Paper | How to structure B2B tech website pages and content 9
Product pages
While Recommenders and Decision Makers may look at the top few blades of product detail
pages, the bulk of this content should be aimed at the Users who will dig deeper. These
pages should include greater depth of content because this audience needs to understand
precisely how your products work. As third-level pages, anything that feels like marketing
dilutes your message. Keep it technical and direct. While you can include benefits, the
product detail pages should focus on features and deliver the depth of information Users are
looking for.

Start with an overview, including technical detail. Then go into even deeper detail when
describing the product features. Next, share relevant customer stories that demonstrate
how businesses are actually implementing the product. Just like on the homepage, use case
studies and real-life applications to validate why they should believe you.

Build some flexibility into this page in case you need to highlight promotions, industry
recognition, and the like. Towards the bottom of the page, we recommend cross-linking to
solutions or technology pages throughout the site. This is good for both SEO and UX. Finally,
be sure to provide relevant resources and end with a strong CTA as the footer.

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 Product page structure

01. Product Title

A headline about the
product

02. Product Overview

Description of the product,
can include technical
detail

03. Product Features

List of distinctive
attributes, capabilities,
functionalities, or
components

04. Validation
Customer stories or 06. Related Resources
reports that demonstrate
success Datasheets, whitepapers,
blog posts, videos...

05. Related Solutions

Cross-link to solution and
technology pages

07. Promote Engagement

Free trial, schedule demo,
contact sales

Audience focus weight

Decision makers Recommenders Users

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About Us page
As another top-level page, About Us should speak to a broad audience including the three
key personas as well as investors, journalists, analysts, career-seekers, and anyone else
who might be interested in your company. It’s the second most important page after your
homepage. This is where Decision Makers and Influencers will go to collect data about your
company, do comparisons to other providers they’re considering, and present their findings
to stakeholders. So be clear, direct, and inclusive. Overall, the About Us page should validate
why your audience needs you and why they should believe you. Visitors should get a good
idea of how viable your organization is, which is crucial to show them that you can meet their
needs and requirements.

Start with a brief company overview. Tell your audience who you work with and what
solutions you offer. Then provide a company history or timeline to show your trajectory
or longevity as well as key innovations and performance over time. Next, introduce your
leadership team—which could be anyone from management to your board of directors. This
is the most important section of the About Us page. By sharing who’s on your team, their past
success, and where they’ve worked previously, you’re showing potential clients that you’re
reliable and up to their standards. Showcase any awards and accolades. For enterprise tech
companies, recognition from high-value organizations like Gartner and Forrester prove you’re
in the right league. Finally, offer a jumping-off point for career-seekers. And as always, end
with a strong CTA.

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 About Us page structure

01. About Page Title

A headline about the
company

02. Company Overview

Overview of the most
important aspects of
your company, including
mission, vision, history...

03. History/Timeline
Show your longevity,
trajectory, innovations,
and performance

06. Careers
04. Team
Provide a jumping-off
Management, board of point for career seekers
directors, key contributors
to your success

05. Awards & Accolades

Showcase any awards,
accolades or recognition

07. News & Events

Latest press releases,
events or news mentions

08. Promote Engagement

Free trial, schedule demo,
contact sales

Audience focus weight

Decision makers Recommenders Users

White Paper | How to structure B2B tech website pages and content 13
Crafting the narrative
After planning your key page content, narratives and flow, it’s time to map out lead-generation
mechanisms that can be integrated throughout the pages and the flow of information. In
addition to gated content and progressive profiling, tools like ROI calculators or free trials
can also help build the case for technology investment and open up new sales opportunities.
News and events can be sprinkled throughout the experience, and every page should end
with a CTA to learn more, contact you, request trial information, or get started. Just be sure
that all content is strategically aligned with each page’s purpose and content flow.

Telling your brand story

Your website is key to telling the world your brand story. Start by defining your positioning
and messaging, and identifying your objectives and audience. Then, you can start crafting
your brand narrative using the page types and content recommendations in this white paper.
With the right partner, you can design and build a website that meets your goals and engages
your audience, and that you can keep up-to-date and relevant as your business and the
industry evolve.

Ready to get strategic about your website?

Let’s talk

White Paper | How to structure B2B tech website pages and content 14
webenertia.com

WebEnertia is a full-service Silicon Valley digital agency with offices in

San Jose and San Francisco. With a 20+ years experience in delivering
award-winning results for its clients, WebEnertia specializes in building
strategic digital brand and web experiences for B2B technology
companies. Clients include Cisco Systems, Intel, McAfee, and Riverbed.