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Why asking your customer what they want is so important.

A few years ago I was involved with a client  for whom we had built  a web site tool to help them survey customer preferences in product packaging.  They used the web tool to build an online survey panel and then to present various packaging options for approval.

In one survey, the client´s plan was to use their web tool to present three alternative designs for a new product they were about to launch.

They had spent a significant amount of time and money in product design, but had come up with only two alternatives that they thought worthy candidates to present. To make up the numbers, they included a third "red herring", an old design that wasn´t being considered.

The online panel made their choices and, you guessed it, the majority picked the "red herring" as their favourite.

Of course, the client was stunned and immediately re-evaluated his plans for the product launch.

Ask the audience!

I was reminded of this story a couple of days ago while talking to a client about the selection of keywords for his new web site.

At a web site design meeting, he had a list prepared for me of all the terms they´d like to use. There were about two dozen phrases!  Most of which were technical jargon from his industry.

We had to reduce the list. But how?

We needed to use a lifeline.

Should we...

Go 50/50?
No.

Phone a friend?
No.

Ask the audience?
YES!

To help reduce the numbers, I suggested to my client that he should survey all their existing customers to see what keywords they would use to find his services online.

He gave it a shot, identified half a dozen of the most frequently mentioned phrases and ditched the old list!  Not only had we reduced the list, but we now had focussed  keyword phrases that his potential customers would use to find his site!

Who is your audience?

When building a web site, you need to reflect on:

• Who is your target audience?
• What are they hoping to achieve on your site?
• How are you going to make it as easy as possible for them to achieve their objectives?

And... of course one way of doing this is to get them to your site quickly in the first place!  Effective keywords are crucial to getting visitors to your site.

Bottom line, you have to put your customer´s needs, wants and psyche at the centre of your web site design.

How do you know what their needs and wants are?

Ask them!