Understanding Your Target Customer

Another aspect of web traffic many people forget is the old business saw 'know your customer'. 

If you design a website you think will attract clients, but you don't really know who your customers are and why they buy products or services, or what they want, you are not likely to make much money.

Remember, that a website business is just an extension or, in some cases, a replacement for, a standard storefront. 

All the same sound business principles apply when you sell online.  You must know your customer and educate your customer on why your product or service is better than your competitor's product.

What drives your client to buy?  Do you know?

If not, you need to find out.  You can send email to your existing clients and ask them to complete a survey or, better yet, you can ask them to the complete the survey while they are on your website if they are willing to do so.

Ask them about their choices.  Why do they like your products?  Do you carry more of a variety than your competitors?  Do you discount prices or offer coupons? 

Are your prices consistently lower than others?  Is your shipping price cheaper?  Do you respond faster to client questions?

Perhaps you carry more colors or choices than your competitor?  Maybe your product descriptions are better.  Or maybe your return policies and guarantees are better than your competitor's policies.

There are some other things you will need to figure out.  When you sell from a website, your customer can buy your products 24 hrs a day, whether you are in the office or not. 

And, your customers may be from other countries or from states that are thousands of miles away from where you do business.

Do you KNOW who is buying your products?  If not, you can check credit card records, or ask your customer to complete a simple contact form with name, address, age, gender, etc., when they purchase a product. 

Start to gather this date and you will find out a lot more about your customer demographics. 

We'll talk more about this in a minute, when we discuss the details of building a better website.

The last thing you should think about when you consider your target client is whether your average client needs more information, or whether you appeal to clients who are, by nature, people who want to be educated. 

There are some natural business extensions for every business.  It is a good idea to have a page on your website where you can provide information to educate your customer. 

You can provide links on the side of the page or the bottom of the page to take your customers to articles or information about products and services or about the industry you are in or a topic related to something they want to buy or learn about. 

You can also provide a 'hot link' within your content.  Use a hot link to take your customer to another place on your website where the customer can find out more about the work or topic you are talking about in the content. 

And, if you write an article to reference a topic on which you are an expert, don't forget to give the article a byline with your name and title, so that your customer will perceive you as an expert on this topic.

• Introduction
• Why Is My Website Traffic So Low?
• Is your website designed for search engine optimization?
• What is the quality and integrity of your web hosting service?
• Does your website give enough information for customers to contact you or to purchase your product or service?
• Design A Website To Attract More Clients - Keywords
• Use Keywords in Page Titles
• Understanding Keyword Density
• Site Component Design
• Web Hosting Services and Domain Names
• Website Storefronts and e-commerce Sites
• Design A Website To Attract More Clients
• Are You Search Engine Savvy?
• 15 Simple Tips To Get Repeat Search Engine Traffic
• Keeping Up With The Competition
• Become A Web Sleuth
• Getting Professional Help
• Summary

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