So
your New Year's Resolution is to set up a web site for your
business. So now what do you do? Before you hire a expensive
web designer or even your next door neighbor's teenage son, what
do you need to do?
Everyone thinks the most important thing to do first when starting a new website, is to figure out what colors to use.
Not
quite.
What do people do first when they click on that link to your website?
Well, they don't check to see if the colors match… They READ!
Therefore - Content is the most important part of your new website.
Now, the FIRST thing you need to do is plan your content - what do you want to say?
And even more importantly - WHO do you want to say it to?
WHO IS YOUR AUDIENCE???
In planning what content you want on your website -
first you need to know who you are talking to.
For example, you are a small business and you are selling widgets.
Now you have done your market research and you know that these widgets are going to be the biggest thing in a teenage boy's life - next to girls. Every teenage boy from age 13 to 19 is going to want at least three of them.
So you are going to aim your website to catch the interest of teenage boys age 13 to 19.
Does
that mean that in your content on your home page you are going
to have a link to the most recent stock reports?
NO - teenage boys don't care about the stock market.
However, they do care about the coolest, most exciting web technology (this is one instance where you would want to display cool technology for the sake of cool technology).
You also need to think of your audience when deciding on the look and feel of your website.
If your audience is women - age 40 to 70, you might want to use a larger font size for your site -
you'd be surprised how difficult it is to read a computer screen with bifocals.
Once you have decided who your audience is, develop a persona to help you with the design process.
Going back to our teenage boy - Let's give him a name – Billy.
- What does
Billy do all day - write out a scenario.
- What does
Billy wear -brand names?
- What
does Billy eat and drink?
- Who are
Billy’s friends?
- Who are
Billy’s parents?
You are thinking what difference does what he wears make to the content of your site?
Well if Billy wears Nike shoes and drinks Mountain Dew soda, maybe these are websites you might want to link to and vice versa.
And when you have a detailed profile (this part is actually fun), refer to it all through the design process - what would
Billy think of this? I’ve gone so far as to buy a little doll that looked like my persona and set it on my computer and have (one-sided) discussions with it!
All these things affect your decisions about what your content will be.
And remember - Content is King - not Color!
Call
or click on Pouncy
Designs
for quality web site assistance at 253-847-0231. If you already
have a web site, call for a FREE evaluation!
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