No matter how great your product or service, if your website doesn’t effectively attract and engage your target audience, you won’t sell squat.
People come to your site because they want to get something done. You want to build a site to share specific information on your product or service. Your digital agency wants to build you a site that does both. So how do we do all this?
The Core Model approach allows business owners, key team members and your digital agency to start thinking collaboratively. It creates a common understanding of user needs, business goals and the flow of your site’s pages.
Core Content
Prior to starting the Core Model, you’ll need a clear picture of your target audience. Maybe it’s one demographic category or maybe it’s a few different user types. Once you have that audience defined, complete the following steps with each user type in mind.
Step 1: Define User Tasks
If you are visiting the site as a member of your target audience, identify the tasks that are important to you. Is it to find a local store that sells the product? Is it to engage with the support staff? Is it to purchase a product? Why would someone be spending time on your site?
Step 2: Define Business Goals
Next you want to identify the top objectives the website should aim to achieve. These are the messages you want to get across to your audience; the things you think it is important for them to know. Do you want them to know why they should choose you over your top competitor? Do you want them to feel like your product or service will help simplify their otherwise chaotic life? What makes your offering stand out like a cupcake on a plate of muffins?
Step 3: Define Your Core Pages
By definition, a Core Page achieves at least one User Task (Step 1) and one Business Objective (Step 2) and acts as a platform for forward paths. When a user visits your site they’re effectively ringing your doorbell. You want them to come in and stay for a bit, not play a game of Nicky Nicky Nine Doors. The longer they engage with your site the more additional business objectives you might achieve.
If you’re interested in learning more about the Core Model, you can read more here. If you’d like to hop on a call to see how we can help you simultaneously meet your user tasks and achieve your business goals, contact us and let’s get started.
