How to Identify Your Ideal Client or Customer

Note: This is part 1 in a 7 part series on how to transform your website to attract your ideal clients.

Who is your ideal client? Does your website make clear exactly who you serve or support?

Many small businesses focus only on trying to find clients or customers and skip the critical step of identifying their “perfect” or “ideal” customer (also known as “niche”).

Unless you sell a product like toothpaste, “everyone” is not your market. Even toothpaste can be narrowed down. Is it whitening toothpaste? Toothpaste for sensitive teeth? Kids toothpaste? Fluoride free toothpaste? Each of these different types of toothpaste has a different target customer and should be marketed with that in mind.

If your website is general and speaking to “everyone” then no one will be able to identify or see themselves in your copy (the text on your website). When you know who you want to help then you can focus on that ideal client while you’re writing and designing your site. No matter how great a website is or how much time or money is put into it, if it’s aimed at the wrong people (or worse yet, aimed at no one at all, but just at “people”) it will not be nearly as successful as it could be with better targeting.

Knowing who your ideal client is will change the way you present your products or services, how you write your website copy, and even what colors you use or voice you create on your website. You want a site that makes your ideal client say, “Hey, that’s me! This site/product/service is here to help me.”

Your Assignment: Take time to figure out who your ideal customer is. If you need some inspiration, try this suggestion to make it a little more fun: write a personal ad for your business.