Creating a visual relationship with your clients
In the digital world we live in today, your website is often the start of your relationship with your website visitors. We don’t often think this when it comes to designing, but’s it true. What I see most often is business owners choosing a design that appeals to them. Or giving complete control of the design over to their web designer. The trouble with this approach is that when we create without thought to the experience our ideal customers will have, we may be turning them away. So today I wanted to share with you my top tips for creating a visual relationship with your ideal customers through the pages of your website.
Know who you are connecting with…
Yes, this all goes back to truly knowing who your ideal customer is or your client avatar. You want to create a website that is comfortable and inviting to those you are here to serve. If you aren’t super clear on who your ideal customer is, you are going to have a difficult time accomplishing this, or guiding your website designer.
Average Age
Not every generation is as tech savvy as the others. Younger generations have grown up with technology all around them. They are comfortable with new trends and advances in technology. Our older generations can often remember a time without these technological conveniences. Change isn’t nearly as comfortable for them. And while all generations have embraced technology to some degree, not all design layouts are comfortable to all generations.
For example, a website with a lot of animation will feel overwhelming and distracting to someone of an older generation, while younger generations love it.
Gender
What appeals to us can vary between genders. Especially when it comes to colors palettes, word choices, and imagery. Clearly understanding the gender of your ideal customer helps you choose all of these in a way that will connect with them. Even if you work equally with all genders. Knowing this allows you to choose design features that will connect with both.
Technology Background
Are your ideal customers tech savvy or does technology give them anxiety? This is a crucial piece of knowledge when it comes to designing your website. It will help you identify the design features that will resonate most with your ideal customer. For example, those familiar with newer technology trends know how to find the hidden menus for navigation such as the hamburger icon. However, those who are not as in tune hate this feature and find it difficult to navigate websites that have it. By knowing the clients you are communicating with will help you identify which approach works best in menus and many other design features.
What does their daily life look like
If your ideal customer is a busy mom on the go, she is probably not going to have a lot of time to dive into lengthy descriptive pages and blog post. Whereas, if you are looking to attract clients who are of retirement age, spending time reading descriptive pages and long post may be exactly what they are looking for. Understanding the daily life of your ideal customers is going to help you understand how to communicate effectively with them. Check out the post Design Your Website For Your Audience for more insight into this.
How are they getting online
While most of us have different devices to connect, such as laptops, tablets and phones, we all have our favorite ways of searching online. Knowing how your ideal customers are getting online the most tells you which device design to pay extra attention too. And while you definitely want your website to look great on every platform, why not give extra attention to the user experience on the device they will be using most.