Understanding Your Audience's Needs
Now that you understand what members of your department expect to accomplish with your Web site, consider how the department’s goals intersect with your audience’s goals. Think about visitors to your site:- Why are they reading the text on your Web site?
- What have they come to the site to do?
- Do they need to learn something?
- Are they looking for quick information?
- Do they want to have fun?
- Do they want to feel a sense of community with other people?
In many cases, you will have different people with different needs coming to your Web site looking for different things. If you are the Web writer for an admissions site, your visitors will all need admissions information. But a prospective student and the parent of a prospective student may want different information.
Most likely, your site has been designed to include paths for these various audiences already and this has been built in to the navigation design. You don’t have to worry about steering the person to the right part of the Web site for their tailored content. You DO have to know how to keep them there once they come, and know how best to talk to them.
For example, on the English department Web site, prospective students may want to read about English faculty and famous alumni. Parents may want to learn about employment prospects upon graduation. And you'll need to consider the differing needs of the other audiences that may visit the English Web site.| Audience | Needs |
|---|---|
| Potential English Majors | Required courses (and all course descriptions), jobs (co-op, internships, postgraduate careers related to English), graduate school opportunities, faculty |
| Potential English graduate students | Requirements for MA and PhD degrees, fellowship opportunities, faculty, research opportunities |
| Non-English majors | Information about required courses |
| Faculty from other institutions | Faculty research interests, publications |
Exercise
Section 1, Worksheet #3
Analyzing Audience Needs
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