Know-How Exchange : Website Critique

The dilemma with this type of personalization is that (A) doing it right requires an investment bigger than most SMBs want to make, and (B) for large enterprises, their offerings have become so vast and complex that the content mgt systems can't keep up in terms of re-architecting the entire site per visitor type.

A popular way to "compromise" that i am familiar with can be seen on IBM. Go to ibm.com and hit the tiny "Register" link top right. On the next page you can find another link to Personalize Your Site. You'll see the "compromise" is to serve the person some additional content based on his/her preferences. That way the core site stays the same, but the visitor gets the option of "bonus" content that is directed to his/her wants. The better part of this also is that it isn't tied to a nebulous title like "Head of IT" - the person can be very specific about the content desired.

Another example i am less familiar with is the old Computer Associates (now www.ca.com). You will see a small link at the bottom of the home page "My Preferences." You will see it works by linking to the next page - same idea as IBM's, but i can't vouch for how robust since I have never registered for it.