When you’re writing a paper or article, it’s important to remember that you are writing to an audience. Whether it is a generalized group of people or a particular individual, you are always writing to someone or something. The same practice should be used by Colorgraphicz designers who are in the process of creating a website. By keeping your target audience in mind you will be able to make better decisions about the look and feel of your website and how you want it perceived by your visitors.
We understand how important it is to recognize your target audience. As web designing team, we always consciously choose colors, select fonts and write appropriate content based on our clients target audience and how they want their brand perceived.
So how to determine target audience?
Research
We always start with research, not in the library or out on the field but with a client survey and my best friend – Google. We ask questions to find out who our client is, what they do, who their competition is and how they want to be perceived. Then we google their competition and see what we are stacked up against.
Next, we create persona for different visitors of the site. This can be fun! At Colorgraphicz, we always use characters from our favorite TV shows. As a team we determine their age, job title, gender, education and how the persona will be interacting with the website. It might be necessary to create several persona, because your target audience will most likely be a group of different people.
How to design for your target audience?
Once we’ve completed the necessary research for the project, we begin to design for the audience. Key phrase here: design for the audience. Layouts, color choices, font selections and content are all important decisions that need to be made.
Content Layout
The information that needs to be display and the audience you are trying to reach will help determine what kind of layout will work best for your site. If you have a younger audience we are more likely to go with a full width layout because it will more likely appeal to a trendier crowd. However, if it’s a more contemporary audience and lots of information to display it would be best to go with a more traditional layout.
Color Choice
Colors are powerful and play an important role in the world we live in. Colors can sway thinking, change actions and effect moods. Color can also play an important role in the perception of the target audience. For example, we wouldn’t expect to see a black healthcare website, so we suggest that you choose colors that make sense to the market.
Font Choice
These days there are so many web safe fonts to choose from. Selecting appropriate fonts for your audience is also important. If we are designing for a younger group, we may use a fun scripted font whereas a corporate site would use a more conservative font such as Open Sans, Arial or Helvetica.
Content
Your target audience will also affect the content on your site and how the information is presented. If it’s for professionals, one can use industry specific terminology more freely. Whereas if it’s for children, we need to use different methods to communicate the message.
Now What?
Before you start your next website design, make a conscious decision to determine your audience. By keeping your target audience in mind you will make better decisions about the look and feel of your website and deliver your client with results they deserve.
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