5 Keys to Effective Web Design (Key #1 - Audience)

Warner and I have led web site development efforts ranging from large portals to smaller marketing sites and most everything in-between. Over the past 10 years, we have identified five (5) keys to guide the process of creating effective Web sites. These are not hard-and-fast process rules but outline instead considerations and principles we've found to be critical to building a successful web presence.

Key #1: Put Yourself in the Audience

Crafting your Web site and content to meet the needs of your key audiences seems so obvious, right? Still, there are many examples of attractive, full-featured web sites which tout the company's expertise using marketing language but don't make the value of the product/service/organization clear to the user anywhere on the site.

Using non-descript ("excellence, quality, industry-standard") or just plain goofy taglines and introductory text confuse the user. "Just do it" works for an established sports brand like Nike but for most anyone else it would translate as "just do what?" For fun, visit TaglineGuru's Tagline Hall of Shame

Questions:

- Why will our audience visit the site?
- What information or resources are they looking for?
- What do I want visitors to see/do before they leave the site?
- How can I provide useful information on a regular basis to become a trusted resource for my customers?

Answers to these questions should help organizations understand general direction but specifics about audience are best. When in doubt ask, don't guess. Guessing can be expensive.

a) Ask users directly

Simple web-based surveys (See SurveyMonkey) or snail mail questionnaires can help as do informal focus groups in venues where customers congregate (online or off). The development of effective survey and data collection is beyond the scope of this post but suffice it to say that it is critical to keep it brief and to the point. Be as specific as possible.

b) See what users are finding today and "map the gaps"

After you collect your data from the audience surveys, compare it with your current site structure, content and traffic analysis. Often what you think is important may not be as critical to the customer. Don't settle for raw totals as the best measure of success, look too at popular click paths through the site.

c) What do your competitors offer?

Last but not least look at your new site concept in light of what kind of site resources your competitors provide. Are there white papers, e-mail newsletters, blogs, FAQs or other types
of resources you should consider offering your customers? Don't just sell bikes, help your customers become better cyclists -- consider how to become a trusted resource.

Tailoring a site to your audience is rarely easy since it often challenges assumptions about your customers' needs and more specifically, what they need from a web site. Nonetheless, understanding your audience's informational needs is fundamental to creating an effective web presence which provides meaningful return over the long haul.

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See our post on audience-focused content and search engine optimization