In my May 6th article I talked how to make your website reflect your target market.  So you need to ask yourself: who is your target market?  You can do more than know your farm areas well and design your website around that to properly cater to your target market.  There are at least several types of distinguishable people in your farm areas.  So having a very clear picture of your specific target audience, along with your expertise in your farm areas, should be the guiding principles in designing your website and all your marketing materials.  So here are some ways of understanding your target audience and catering to them.

Demographics and Psychographics

Consider the following demographic aspects of the typical person in your target market: age, income, race, education level, home ownership status, and employment status.  Consider their psychographics such as personality, values, attitudes, interests, or lifestyles.  Then imagine you are one of these people and think about what you’d want out of a real estate website.  If your target market is a young, single, hip, urban professional in their early mid-30’s, you’ll definitely want to have lots of information and listings on condos and lofts.  If it’s the same type of person as I just described but it’s couples with young children, have lots of information and listings on townhomes.

Real Estate Knowledge

How much does your target audience know about real estate?  Are they first time or repeat buyers?  How much do they know about financing?  Let’s say you’re focusing on suburban empty nesters who want to downsize and get a condo in the big city.  For that audience you’ll want to have lots of info about condos and maybe even active lifestyle condo communities.  Many of these people will be able to buy their condos outright without financing, so don’t have loads of financing information.  These people may not be used to conserving space in their homes as they’ll probably need to in their new condo, so have information about how they can downsize their lifestyle.  These people will not be used to living in communal buildings and may be more interested in taking an active role on their condo board than younger residents, so have a section on condo law.

In general, it’s best to focus on a target market that matches your own lifestyle and needs.  That way, you’ll readily understand how to cater to such people and provide information they’ll find interesting enough to sign up for your website.

Find out more about designing a website so your target audience finds you in my course Excelling In The Real Estate Profession.  This course has been approved by the Registrar, REBBA 2002 to qualify for 6 credits.