Develop your web site around the needs of your audience
Wait! "It's our web site, surely we should build it around what we want?" WRONG

In order for your web site to be successful it needs one thing more than any other: visitors, and lots of them. While we discuss promoting your site in another section, this section is devoted to feeding the needs of your audience once they find your site.

As a user, there can be nothing more frustrating than to find a web site that you think will meet your needs only to find it fails miserably when you enter the site. When developing your web site you have to remember that you are probably one of MANY similar organizations fighting for 'air time' online, if you fail to meet the needs of your audience then they will simply click back and go elsewhere - all in a matter of seconds. It is therefore vital that you capture the imagination of the user once they find your site.

So, how do you go about understanding what your audience wants from your web site?
Ask them! Seems the obvious answer but why not? If your business has regular customers with whom you liaise on a regular basis ask them: what would they want to see on your web site? If your business doesn't have regular contact with your audience then construct a simple questionnaire for your web site and ask users to complete the form - you may even offer them a freeby or discount off their next purchase for taking the time to complete the form.

The bottom line is that you must listen to your audience and your customers, if your web sites doesn't meet their needs then why should they visit your site or buy from you?

The best web sites are those that take the time to understand the needs and wants of the audience and then provide them with fresh and up to date material to feed their desires - this encourages repeat visits to your site and long term should result in increased business.

Another important consideration when developing the design and style of your web site is to consider the audience for whom it is intended. Your web developers should be able to help you with this, the idea however is to ensure that you deliver the right design or look and feel for the intended audience. We provide two contrasting examples below:

Children's BBC - www.bbc.co.uk/children/
It's pretty obvious who this site is designed for - children. Here the BBC have adopted a relatively simple design and style, while maintaining the theme and layout of the overall BBC web site. Notice the following:

• bright bold colours
• cartoon type pictures instead of photography
• small amounts of animation to capture the eye
• they maintain the top navigation bar throughout the entire site
• the sub-content navigation (ie the lower part of the page) is provided in a familiar BBC format so regardless of your location within the BBC site you should find it easy to navigate your way around.

SAGA - www.saga.co.uk
The SAGA web site is designed for people 50 and over. The design uses a simple 3 column layout which makes it very easy to read and navigate. Notice the following:

• subtle, simple colours that reflect the ethos and identity of the organization
• larger text size - makes the text easier to read on screen
• bold, simple navigation down the left hand side of the screen
• little or no use of complex graphics or animation