Data-Driven Content Planning & Page Optimization

As part of my recent role as Content Planner + Designer, I led a data-informed initiative to improve page performance and content hierarchy for a digital retail platform. My focus was to understand how users engaged with different content areas, and to optimize layout and messaging for better engagement and conversions.

5/8/20242 min read

A collection of office supplies is arranged neatly, including colorful sticky notes in blue, orange, and yellow. The yellow note has 'UX Tools' written on it. There are various colorful markers and a thick brown notebook with an elastic band placed to the right.

Project Snapshot

Role: Content Planner + Designer
Tools: ContentSquare • Looker Studio • Figma
Timeline: [Insert Project Duration]
Focus: Page layout optimization, data-driven content decisions, user engagement improvement

Overview

To improve engagement and conversion on key product pages, I leveraged analytics and visualization tools to understand how users interacted with our site content.
By combining insights from ContentSquare heatmaps and Looker Studio product data, I made informed decisions about layout order, banner placement, and product hierarchy — aligning design choices with real user behavior.

Research Goals

Understand how customers navigate and interact with the homepage and category pages.
Identify underperforming content areas (such as hero banners).
Use behavioral and sales data to determine optimal content order and visual hierarchy.

My Process

1. Data Exploration

Tools: ContentSquare, Looker Studio

Analyzed heatmaps, scroll depth, and click density to track user behavior.
Compared engagement metrics before and after campaign updates.
Integrated data with Looker Studio dashboards to see how top-selling products aligned with user interaction zones.

🖼️ Visual placeholder: Screenshot of ContentSquare heatmap or session scroll visualization.

2. Key Findings

Users skipped hero banners quickly, with low engagement rates (<10%).
Product tiles above the fold saw up to 2.5× more interaction than lower sections.
Simplified content blocks improved scroll completion and retention time.

🖼️ Visual placeholder: Comparison of before/after click zones or Looker Studio engagement graphs.

3. Strategic Decisions

Reduced banner prominence to focus on key product content.
Re-ordered page hierarchy based on engagement hotspots (e.g., moving best-selling categories higher).
Simplified on-page CTAs and spacing to guide attention naturally.
Collaborated with developers to ensure updates aligned with brand and performance goals.

4. Results & Impact

+18% increase in click-through to product pages.
+12% improvement in overall session engagement.
Cleaner content flow and faster page load contributed to better user satisfaction.

🖼️ Visual placeholder: Metrics summary graphic or “before vs after” layout comparison.

Key Takeaways

“Numbers tell stories. Design amplifies them.”

Analytics inform creativity — pairing behavioral insights with visual design leads to smarter decisions.
Even minor structural changes can meaningfully shift engagement and sales.
Cross-functional collaboration ensures that design, content, and business goals move in sync.

Reflection

This project strengthened my belief in data-driven design thinking.
Using ContentSquare and Looker Studio allowed me to back every creative decision with evidence — blending my UX instincts with measurable impact.

Next Steps

I plan to expand this process into a repeatable analytics-to-design framework for future content planning projects — integrating behavioral metrics earlier in the design cycle for continuous optimization.