You put so much effort into designing your business’ website whether you do it yourself or hire a design firm to do the job. There’s picking color schemes, images, writing and rewriting copy, choosing domain names and web hosts and a thousand other things that go into creating the perfect website.

With so many things to consider, all too often the simplest things can be overlooked. So what is the worst mistake you can possibly make when designing your site? Drumroll please…

Not designing for your target audience!

What do I mean?

Your website is not your business, it is a representation of your business. All the pretty pictures and flashy menus and bells and whistles in the world don’t mean a darn thing if your visitors don’t feel comfortable enough to make the transition from visitor to customer.

What is all too often overlooked in the website design process is a website visitor’s visceral reaction when arriving at your homepage. I know I’ve been guilty of this in the past. You can get so caught up in having a professional looking, slick site that make people say ‘Wow, they’re big time!’ that you can forget that your website is your voice online. If your website is too “big time” with an overly upscale feel, that online voice can sound pretty patronizing to your small business clients.

The problem is people are human, and when we are going to trust people and work with them, we need to identify with them and feel a connection on some level. We want to feel that our potential business partner understands us and our business.

Let me give you an example…

When I was a kid, my father was the president of a wholesale hardware company. Basically, his company supplied the inventory for a large number of the hardware stores on Main Streets of tiny towns across Kansas and the Midwest.

Now, part of my Dad’s contract was always having a company car. The car allowances that he and the salesmen had would have been more than enough to have provided for a nice, big Cadillacs or Lincolns for him and the rest of the team. So what did my Dad and the sales team drive?

They all rolled in Ford Crown Victoria’s. Those cars were fully loaded, but on the outside, they were the same cars that most of the state government employees around KS drove. With all the options, pricewise they were definitely comparable to the Caddies and the Towncars. So why didn’t they spring for those?

IMAGE!

John and Mary at Joe’s Hardware in Smalltown, KS don’t feel comfortable dealing with the slick looking guy with a fancy suit rolling up to their store in an easily recognizable luxury vehicle. On the other hand, they welcome with open arms their friend Frank who shows up in his Ford to check up on them and the store.

It was hard for me as a preppy, valley girl wannabe girl of the 80’s to understand why we couldn’t have the “cool” car, but in retrospect, it taught me a lesson that I’ve applied to my business life ever since.

Know your audience.

You don’t have to compromise the quality of your website, just modify the packaging to best fit the people you’re trying to reach!

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