Planning Your Web Site
Page 3 of 7
- Introduction |
- Consider your needs |
- Consider your audience
- Consider your audience's needs |
- Decide on the required features |
- Consider the site's appearance |
- Work out your budget |
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Consider your audience
The next thing to do is to spend some time identifying the target audience for you site. Who do you want to attract to your site? An answer of 'everyone' is not going to help you or your designer create the best possible site, so here are some choices to consider:
- Existing customers — this can be an excellent way to retain loyalty among your current customers; help them out and give them a site that continues the good will you've already created through your professional services.
- Prospective customers — people who are in the market for your particular product or service. You need to both sell your product/service and establish your company's credibility. A quality web site can help establish your credibility in the same way that a well designed brochure can exude 'professionalism' and 'experience' to a potential customer.
- Customers of your competitors — one way that you can increase your business is by steering people to your door from your competitors.
- Donors or sponsors — charities and other non-profit organisations may need to attract supporters or financial contributors.
- People in your community — if you have a small, local business, then you might want to create a site that focuses on the needs of your local community.
- Experts in a specific field — if your customer base is built from experts in a particular area (for example, engineers or teachers) your web site should reflect the requirements and interests of those professionals.
If your target audience comprises more than one group, try to list them in order of importance.
Next, consider qualities that define your target audience. Think about their ages and locations; your company's relationship with them; how experienced they are with computers and the Internet; and any distinguishing qualities they have, e.g., it could be that the majority of your clients are female business managers, or the elderly.
Keeping in mind your key objective from Step 1, try to define the type of relationship you wish to have with the visitors to your web site. Do you want to focus on giving existing customers or members an added-value service, or do you want to use the site primarily to generate new customers? If you're trying to expand your audience, consider where these new audience members might come from. For example, you may be aiming to break into a specific foreign market.
