How Can I Use Website Content to Target a Specific Audience?

Yes, what you’ve been hearing is true – it pays to “specialize”, “niche down” or “target” a specific audience. It all boils down to knowing exactly who you want to work with, and who you’d rather not deal with. Sometimes it’s not an obvious definition, and the preferred client base is not easily defined with simple demographics. It shouldn’t be! Always take into account demographics PLUS where they are in their life or the life of their business.

I work very well with people over the age of 40 who have been in business successfully for over 6 years. They are happy to give their all to their business success, excited about the future, and know what they want to outsource to avoid burnout. They understand the relentless attention we need to devote to consistent marketing and that it pays to invest in professional services to make sure it gets done right.

But how do you express your own preference in your website?

I’m not suggesting you state “conditions” for reaching out to work with you. I will absolutely hear from people who are younger than 40 and who have not yet had 6 years in business. But something about their personality, energy, and attitude must be in line with someone I’d love to work with. I’ll figure that out in our initial discovery call.

You can remain inclusive while specializing. Your message should attempt to convey that while you don’t exclude specific types of customers, your service is best appreciated by a specific segment.

For example, a bakery that specialized in gluten-free and allergy-free goods could say something like –

Our products are made with your food sensitivities in mind. They are made without the ingredients that can cause allergic and digestive issues – yet they’re so delicious that everyone raves about them.

Or a tax accountant can say,

We love preparing taxes in an efficient and timely manner for our small business customers. We also have extensive experience in tax prep for the builder and contractor community.

Your home page is the most prevalent space in your website. Most people judge whether they want to learn more about you just from the first few seconds of scanning your home page alone. So it’s natural that mention of your specialty or location constraints should be here, front and center. It’s best if you move the description of your target audience as high up in the page as possible. Let go of hoping every visitor will read your whole site; it’s most important that the person reading it be in close alignment with you. If someone doesn’t match my ideal client profile, reading my website is a waste of their time as well as mine.

Take a look at my home page. See what I mean? I spend the space and time talking about who I want to meet to discuss my offers. If there’s no match, I prefer they moved on.

You can continue to allude to specific aspects of your ideal client everywhere else – in your services page, your About page and even your contact page. Use positive wording that leaves people open to reaching out to ask for more info even if there doesn’t appear to be an exact match; because the truth is that you never know.

• We’re professional home organizers who can’t wait to organize your small business home office so that you can run your business smoothly and keep your work papers from creeping into other areas of your home.

• We’re a personal concierge service ready to take over your grocery shopping, wait for the repair person, pick up your party supplies, and perform other not-so-exciting household needs for busy professionals in the Bergen County area who’d rather spend their limited free time with their families.

• I create exciting vacation packages for seasoned travelers who want to leisurely explore new adventures, from vineyards to castles, across the nation and across the pond, throughout their retirement.

Remember, your words should always be helpful, positive and full of energy. And for SEO purposes make sure your ideal client segment is reflected in your blog posts and web page headlines.

You can do this! But if you feel you’re “too close” to be able to come up with great content for your website, please reach out to me and we’ll discuss the ways to refine your website content.