Importance of Website Audience Analysis
Analyzing the Website Audience
The webmaster should analyze his prospective audience in light
of the message he is attempting to convey. You must be concerned
with the range of ages represented in your visitors, the
education and experience of this audience and their knowledge
and opinions on your main theme.
You must adapt your website as specifically as possible to the
audience that you are trying to reach. You will need more than a
superficial knowledge of your target audience. What are their
intrests, are they educated or uneducated, are they experienced
or inexperienced, what are their opinions and prejudices and
what is their economic and social level.
The webmaster should never fail to consider the emotional state
of his audience. Establish a common ground of feeling. You must
analyze and utilize their motives and intrests if you are to
relate what you have to say to their habits of thought and
feeling. To do this you must know as much as possible about the
behavior and needs of the people who will be visiting your
website.
Often, the subject of your website will give you a hint as to
the character of your visitors. If they are intrested enough to
visit your website then you can expect that they have an intrest
in what you have to offer. Understand your audience in terms of
the trends of the day as revealed through newspapers, magazines,
broadcasts, the movies and web surfing. Compare the customs,
standards, traditions and manners that you possess with that of
your target audience and create a common ground with them.Define
and Refine
There are 4 steps, that if followed, will define your target
audience and refine your site to meet their intrests. They
are;
1) Investigation - Consider the purpose of the website,
the layout that best projects the idea that you wish to convey
and characteristics of your prospective audience. List possible
topics and select the one best suited to all aspects of the
situation: your intrests and qualifications, the requirements
necessary to promote your ideas, the necessary content to
accomplish this and the expectations and characteristics of the
audience.
2) Organization - The next step for the webmaster is to
determine the structure of the website. The webmaster must
decide the logical requirements of the subject matter and the
most appropriate way to adapt it to the prospective audience.
Only after a webmaster has selected the topic, has analyzed the
particular audience, and has collected the proper content will
they be equipped to plan the structure of the website.
3) Method of Expression - The third step in building an
audience friendly website is to express the thought in a way
that will communicate to your audience exactly what you intend.
The central theme should be easy to follow, the vocabulary must
be suited to the understanding of the audience and be
interesting enough to hold the attention of your visitors.
4) Mastery of the Content - You must master the content
of your website and present a logical sequence of ideas leading
to a particular goal. Set up your website in such a way that
there is a smooth progression from one idea to another. Make
clear the exact meaning of what you are saying each step of the
way.