Understanding your visitors
As well as researching the competition, it’s important to have a good understanding of who your website visitors, or customers, will be. You can’t create a site that pleases everyone, so you need to focus on the preferences of those who you most want to reach.
Try to understand, for example:
- Are they predominantly male or female, or are they likely to be a reasonably even mixture?
- What stage of life are they at? Are they children, or are they grown up with children of their own? Do they study or work? Are they senior citizens? The kind of design that appeals will vary greatly by age and background.
- How much disposable income could they spend with you? How sensitive are they to pricing
- What are they interested in outside of your website? Can you use any ideas from popular culture or literature that might appeal to them?
- How experienced are they at using the Internet? Beginners will need more reassurance to make the most of your site, but experts will be happy to experiment and fearless about making mistakes.
- Where do they use the Internet? Do they pay by the minute in an Internet cafe, do they sneak a quick surf at work, or do they view your site at leisure at home?
- What kind of device will they use to view your site? The latest trendy mobile device, or a beaten-up old computer?