Building a Website With Your Customers in Mind

It seems obvious, doesn’t it? That you should build your website with your customers in mind. But I’ve seen far too many websites that focus on the company themselves, not the customers.

It’s easy to get caught up in building your website to be all about you. It’s your place to tell your story and share what you do – that’s what the people are coming for, right? 

Maybe. 

But the challenge lies in not only telling your story effectively but telling it in a way that keeps your customers and their journey in mind.

Putting yourself in the shoes of a customer or prospect is so important when building a website. 

Asking yourself things like:

• How are they getting to my website? 
• What do they already know?
• What do they need?
• What are they looking for?

It’s also asking yourself things like:

• What is my ultimate goal? 
• What do I want the customer to do?
• How do I help them along that journey?

You can use the answers to these questions to inform all decisions, from the content to the design of your site.

If you want your website visitors to purchase a product, how can you lead them through your site to the product? Is your customer a busy mom who doesn’t have a lot of time? You should get her there quickly. Or maybe it’s a businessman who wants to spend more time reading. Really knowing and understanding your customers is step 1.

From there, you have to tell your customers what you want them to do. It seems simple, but it’s a step that’s often overlooked. If your business goal is to get people to contact you, they likely aren’t going to do that the second they land on your site (or are they?). You need to funnel them through a journey. Think through each page strategically. How did they land here, what do they need to know, and how can I get them to take action (or are they even ready to take action)?

This is more than just the design and layout of your website. It’s more than the content of your website. It’s everything on your website working together to ensure a solid strategy for your business. Start by getting inside the mind of your customers. And then build your website with your customers in mind.