When I first thought about writing this article I had the idea that I would primarily write about matching your Website graphics to your Target Audience. But of course I forgot an important point, and that is, the Target Audience itself. Who are they? This mysterious group of people ... often called "them" ... who magically become the target audience when any Website goes "Live". Firstly, "they" shouldn't be either mysterious or magical ... instead "they" should have been pinpointed clinically as an important part of your Website planning.

Just as important to define very early on are two other points - your Company's "Needs" and "Internet Goals". Open up Word, click the "new" button and start keying in your needs and goals, these two points can be quite different ... be realistic and brutal in your definitions.

Once you have ascertained your Needs and Goals then define your Target Audience. Use a Questionnaire and ask important questions like ... are "they" predominantly Male or Female? what age group are "they" 8-12, 28-38, 65+? are "they" basic or advanced users? Getting the picture here? Lets say we have feedback which tells us our target audience is predominantly Female and the majority are between the age of 10 and 18. Oh and they have access to large amounts of disposable income. Which is good because our new virtual Company (Game, Set and Match) is in the business of selling Tennis Clothes and Accessories.

We've done our planning and we're ready to start designing our Website graphics. At this point I must mention that knowing just who your Target Audience is is a crucial part of the design process. Appropriate graphics for the Website can now be created. Hmmmm what do we know about females of a certain age, what colours are the most popular? Well, I hate to sound cliche'd but pink is an obvious choice. According to Pantone, pink is no longer just for girls, but it doesn't stop girls loving the color. Researching more, black is both mysterious and empowering and the chosen color for females rather than males at the moment. And as a third choice white because it will tone down the harshness between the pink and the black.

 

A little too much for a background perhaps. We've only just started really. Three basic colours ... lets look at what will become our navigation bar. I think it should be the white section, and smaller ... fading into the two other colours. Something like this ...

 

Looking better, slicker, but still quite bare. I think we need some images. Looking back to our Target Audience definition, we need an image of a female in that age group, wearing one of our products of course. Something like this perhaps.

 

All very well you might say but we need to tell our Target Audience who we are ... 'brand' ourselves, so to speak. So we need to put in the Game, Set and Match logo.

 

And the Game, Set and Match catch phrase.

 

Still not sure how this design will be accepted by your Target Audience? Well, the answer is simple, ask them! Put together a set of questions you want answers to about the Website Graphics and send them out to people who fit your Target Audience criteria. When the feedback comes in, make changes accordingly, where necessary. Making a Website attractive to your Target Audience is an on-going task. Styles change, logos that mention "girls" become old-fashioned (Well, I had to say it before someone else did ... and after all this is just an example, not a real Website). Keep an eye on the latest color trends, watch out for catch phrases that go out of fashion, update your Website graphics accordingly. But most of all, get feedback from your Target Audience after every change, just to make sure you are going in the right direction.

My little graphics do look rather plain but I think by now you are beginning to get the idea that planning a Website and creating graphics that will sell your products to the right people is an opportunity you should not be missing out on. In summary, my advice is to make up standard lists of questions to form questionnaires about your Website and the graphics. Do your research about your Target Audience, not only who 'they' are but what 'they' like in the way of colors, images, catch phrases. Remember it all works towards selling your product and obtaining a return on the investment in your Website. Something every online business should be working towards.