Build a High Performance Website by Understanding your audience.
Build a high-performance Website by understanding your audience.
It is commonly agreed that today we are building 4th generation web sites. Today's sites are highly interactive, potent content-managed web sites that are designed to meet the requirements of a specifically identified audience.
These sites are simple to use, well-organized and provide powerful user help tools to help visitors find the data they seek as quickly as possible. Finally, today's sites are created with a specific purpose in mind; to attract focused traffic and to convert those visitors into purchasers.
To develop a successful website it must first be accepted that the site itself isn't the last result, it is the vehicle thru which we get what we actually want, i.e. Sales, leads, improved client service and brand awareness. Perhaps you've heard it asserted [*CO]'Nobody buys a drill because they need a drill. They purchase a drill because they need a hole!'
concentrating on our true business objectives and our unique audience is the 1st step toward building a high-performance website.
Who are we?
At a very high level, commercial web sites typically fall into one of 4 first Site types :
Content / Branding sites
the target of this kind of site is usually to increase readership, level of interest, and brand awareness. Content sites are sometimes supported by sponsors and ads, subscriptions and other premium services.
E-commerce sites
the objective of this type of site is typically to raise sales and decrease marketing costs.
Lead-generation sites
the target for lead generation sites is to extend and segment lead generation.
client Service sites
the objective for this type of site is to increase consumer satisfaction and decrease support investigations or people-powered support services.
*In fact, many sites may fall across some or all of these categories, but it is generally clear which is the site type is first. After we understand our main site type, the site should be developed under that context.
Who is our Audience?
when we understand our key business objective ( s ) we must come to have a deep knowledge of our ideal customer profile, their wants wishes and incentives. Relying on the type of site you are developing, there is likely to be numerous audiences which are often broken down into first and secondary audiences. As an example, our main audience may include Current purchasers, Prospects, work seekers and/or Investors while our secondary audience may include the local people, the press, and employees or business partners.
While our secondary audiences may be considered in the site design and development, our main audiences are sometimes high-value visitors whom we wish to'convert' as acceptable for each audience type. For each audience type a detailed profile should be developed that includes info like :
Demographics - Age, gender, revenue, Geography, Education, PC and web skill Level & use, Job Title & Level of Authority, Internet Access ( Broadband Vs Dialup ). Now we want to drill farther into understanding our visitors by inspecting their Psychographic profiles which considers things like approach to life, attitude, beliefes, values, personality, movtives, needs, desires and expectations.
when we understand'Who', our primary audience types are, we can begin to use this info to raise questions such as :
What? Based on the individual audience profiles, what do we'd like this user to do? Are there key conversions for each user type?
Where? Where are we able to find this audience? Are there online resources that attract this group? Are there debate forums, blogs or other social networking sites explicit to this group? Are there trade periodicals with web sites that could be used to publicize to this group?
How? Can we buy, rent or develop e-mail marketing lists for these groups? Are we able to use search marketing, PPC, affiliate and banner advertising? What keywords might these groups use to find us online?
Why? Why should these groups do business with us? Why us instead of our competitors? How specifically does our product/service meet the requirements of each group? What is our unique value proposition and how can we express that?
Before you begin to design your internet site, take some time to think carefully about these questions. Develop an'Ideal client Profile' to be used in steering your choices as you build out your internet site.
- Cody Flanagan | Internet Marketing Guru
http://www.irazorstrategies.comSelf-Service Website key-performance-indicators
Self-Service Website key-site-metrics [http://key-indicators.ning.com/profiles/blogs/selfservice-website]
.
It is commonly agreed that today we are building 4th generation web sites. Today's sites are highly interactive, potent content-managed web sites that are designed to meet the requirements of a specifically identified audience.
These sites are simple to use, well-organized and provide powerful user help tools to help visitors find the data they seek as quickly as possible. Finally, today's sites are created with a specific purpose in mind; to attract focused traffic and to convert those visitors into purchasers.
To develop a successful website it must first be accepted that the site itself isn't the last result, it is the vehicle thru which we get what we actually want, i.e. Sales, leads, improved client service and brand awareness. Perhaps you've heard it asserted [*CO]'Nobody buys a drill because they need a drill. They purchase a drill because they need a hole!'
concentrating on our true business objectives and our unique audience is the 1st step toward building a high-performance website.
Who are we?
At a very high level, commercial web sites typically fall into one of 4 first Site types :
Content / Branding sites
the target of this kind of site is usually to increase readership, level of interest, and brand awareness. Content sites are sometimes supported by sponsors and ads, subscriptions and other premium services.
E-commerce sites
the objective of this type of site is typically to raise sales and decrease marketing costs.
Lead-generation sites
the target for lead generation sites is to extend and segment lead generation.
client Service sites
the objective for this type of site is to increase consumer satisfaction and decrease support investigations or people-powered support services.
*In fact, many sites may fall across some or all of these categories, but it is generally clear which is the site type is first. After we understand our main site type, the site should be developed under that context.
Who is our Audience?
when we understand our key business objective ( s ) we must come to have a deep knowledge of our ideal customer profile, their wants wishes and incentives. Relying on the type of site you are developing, there is likely to be numerous audiences which are often broken down into first and secondary audiences. As an example, our main audience may include Current purchasers, Prospects, work seekers and/or Investors while our secondary audience may include the local people, the press, and employees or business partners.
While our secondary audiences may be considered in the site design and development, our main audiences are sometimes high-value visitors whom we wish to'convert' as acceptable for each audience type. For each audience type a detailed profile should be developed that includes info like :
Demographics - Age, gender, revenue, Geography, Education, PC and web skill Level & use, Job Title & Level of Authority, Internet Access ( Broadband Vs Dialup ). Now we want to drill farther into understanding our visitors by inspecting their Psychographic profiles which considers things like approach to life, attitude, beliefes, values, personality, movtives, needs, desires and expectations.
when we understand'Who', our primary audience types are, we can begin to use this info to raise questions such as :
What? Based on the individual audience profiles, what do we'd like this user to do? Are there key conversions for each user type?
Where? Where are we able to find this audience? Are there online resources that attract this group? Are there debate forums, blogs or other social networking sites explicit to this group? Are there trade periodicals with web sites that could be used to publicize to this group?
How? Can we buy, rent or develop e-mail marketing lists for these groups? Are we able to use search marketing, PPC, affiliate and banner advertising? What keywords might these groups use to find us online?
Why? Why should these groups do business with us? Why us instead of our competitors? How specifically does our product/service meet the requirements of each group? What is our unique value proposition and how can we express that?
Before you begin to design your internet site, take some time to think carefully about these questions. Develop an'Ideal client Profile' to be used in steering your choices as you build out your internet site.
- Cody Flanagan | Internet Marketing Guru
http://www.irazorstrategies.comSelf-Service Website key-performance-indicators
Self-Service Website key-site-metrics [http://key-indicators.ning.com/profiles/blogs/selfservice-website]
.