Your website is not for you!!!
In the mist of Covid-19 (Corona Virus), we at JDS WebDesign are hoping everyone is safe, washing your hands frequently, sneezing and coughing in your elbow, and practicing social distancing. Over the next several weeks, we are planning on blogging about how to make your website more business friendly. We will have some tutorials on our favorite plugins and features, which will make your site more efficient.
Web design 101, advised your client that the project is a reflection of their brand. IT IS NOT DESIGN FOR THEM!!! Having to explain that their website is not for them, can be an interesting conversation. A true sign of a potential troubling project, is when the client wants to discuss functionality and features…without talking about target audience and reason for the site.
If the site is not for me, then who is it for?
The site is for your target audience. You want to make sure to answer all your target audience pain point, as soon as, they arrive on your site. This is not always possible, because some target audience do not understand their pain point. Maybe you have an ecommerce site, with discounted prices. Your target audience could be thrifty shoppers, so maybe, you have a call to action to find the clearance page on your site. You could be building a real estate website, your client target audience might want to find houses for sale based on school districts. Having a dynamic search section, which would include the ability to search based on school district…should be present.
While fonts and colors are important. They are secondary to the design process. Having Montserrat font is not going to keep your target audience on your site? It is very easy to read…but generally you need to make sure to solve your target audience pain point. Red, which is my favorite color, looks great on a web site. Check out my home page, but it is a secondary decision and not a reason why your target audience is going to stay on your site.
What if I do not agree with my target audience?
Remember you have a website for a specific reason. To inform your target audience about a specific product or services. Provide information about a cause near and dear to your heart. Maybe your website is to promote someone, or to provide reviews about a product or service.
Your target audience might share in the same cause, product or services. But your target audience has a different pain point, then you… You want to provide the information. Your target audience wants to receive the information. It is a totally difference prospective.
What if my target audience changes?
That will happen. You change your site as your target audience changes. This is called growth. Target audience will change as you grow your business. What is a pain point today, might not be one tomorrow. You will need to continue to ask the question to your target audience. What do they need. And the answer will make your design and your site functionality make sense to the most important person…your visitors, or what we call your target audience.
Now you can fight with your web designer and make sure that slider is above the fold. You can demand to have neon light colors or shooting stars on your site, or my favorite a audio player which is on play by default. As soon as you land on the site, you are greet with someone talking or singing. Then when you look at your bounce rate, and analytic numbers you can blame only one person. The one you really build your site for…you !!!
Listen to your web designer…we want your site to be successful as well.
Image courtesy of Bruno Cervera.
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JDS WebDesign is a Web Design and Brand Marketing Agency located in Marietta, Georgia. We create AWESOME on line presence for Start-ups and Influential People/Organizations. To learn more about us or how we can help you and your organization, you can contact us or schedule a meeting.
