It doesn't matter what your web site looks like, what colors you use, what images you have rotating, what version of your logo you've placed if you haven't taken the time to define your target audience.

Ok, let me qualify this inflammatory headline. Not all websites suck.

But with more than 12 billion web pages out there available for you to access, odds are pretty good that you'll run across a site here and there that just flat out sucks.

And much like a good Jake Gyllenhaal movie, you might not know it when you see it.

Why? Because the reason that many websites suck is because they're either talking to no one or trying to talk to everyone.

Everyone is not coming to your web site. And if you're not actively using it (i.e. publishing some kind of fresh content to it) or constantly telling people about it (i.e. using it as a key communications tool for all, not just one or two, key messages) then more often than not, no one is trudging up the steps to your digital doorbell to give it a ring.

It doesn't matter what your web site looks like, what colors you use, what images you have rotating, what version of your logo you've placed if you haven't taken the time to define your target audience.

So, in this first blog post in the series "How to Make my Website Suck Less," we're going to go over the basics of identifying your audience. Once you know who's on the other end of the line, you can figure out what exactly you need to say.

First, make a guess as to who you think is currently coming to your website (unless of course you've got accurate web analytics to mine through). If you don't have a Web site yet, then take this opportunity to dream about who you'd like to come to your site.

Are they strangers? Supporters? Funders? Are they young? Old? Middle-aged? Is their skin white? Black? Other? Do they shave their face? Or their legs?

Once you've developed a hypothetical profile of current traffic, it's time to do the same for desired traffic. Who are those individuals you know you want to be talking to? Following this exercise (feel free to make two distinct lists for each of the above exercises), compare your two lists.

Are they the same? Drastically different? Worlds apart?

Spend a few moments thinking through their sameness or differences and see if you can articulate (again, write it down) why you think the lists are as they are. If your current visitors look like Bill O'Reilly and your desired visitors look like Oprah Winfrey, why is that?

Answer that question and file it away with your two profile lists. That's all for now. Next week we'll think about what to do with the information we've developed to make a decision as to which audience we care most about talking to, and then, how exactly to speak a language that they understand.

Take a chance and get on board with this process. We'll take it a week at a time, a step at a time, and in the end, you'll have a better understanding of your organization's online existence such that your messages ring loudest to those who most need to hear them most.

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