1. Determine who your customer is/will be (target audience):

Published January 3, 2010 | By Coburn Enterprises

Who will be coming to your site – people who you tell to go there (you will drive traffic to your website via other marketing channels such as a sales force or they are already clients and you want to enhance the services you offer them) or people that have a need for your product or service but don’t know you offer it?

If most clients will be coming to your site because of other marketing / advertising strategies what is the purpose of your site?
- To share supporting examples of your previous/current services or products such as a portfolio?
- To facilitate 24/7 communications – such as a customer relationship portal, appointment requests or to let people know your daily specials or current events?
Are you looking for new customers?
- How will they search for you if they don’t know your product or service exists?
  - Talk to your existing customers, friends, associates or even strangers and ask them “If you were looking to (buy, learn, hire someone to) [your service or product] what words would you use to look for it?
  - Develop as many words and short phrases as you can that people might use to find you – don’t stay with terms you or people in your industry use – think like someone who has never heard of your company, service or product.
What will your visitors expect when they get to your site?
- Are they highly technical looking to be impressed by your use of technology?
- Are they young, old, Male, Female, computer savvy or computer illiterate?
- Are they looking for a local solution – is your location important to them?
Will they want detailed information or easy access to basic information?
- Are they potential clients that need more information about you or your services to convince them that you are the right choice for the job such as references or testimonials?
- Are they looking for information such as hours and location only?
- What do they need to know about you or your company to decide to take action?
- Do they want to be able to complete transactions or submit information during non-standard business hours?

Posted in Search Engine Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, Step by Step Web Site Planning and SEO | Tagged Design vs. Function, Determining your target audience, How do customers find my product or service?, Step by Step Web Site Planning and SEO, Who are my customers?