“Wanna fly, you got to give up the (stuff) that weights you down.” ~Toni Morrison

Naturally it is your goal that your web site soars to magnificent heights with glorious raves from all your visitors. How do you accomplish that? What is it that makes a web site hit a home run with its audience?

And the strangest question of all …. How can two web sites, so very different in appearance, one stark and photoless, the other silly, loud, and eye-catching… both be popular award winning designs?

The answer lies in their individual appeal to their target audiences’ needs and expectations. People don’t go to Google.com expecting eye-candy. Rather they want to be in and out quickly and easily with the info they came to get. Fast and simple, no frills, no distractions, just show me the money. On the other hand visitors who show up at Disney.com are there to slowly and joyously soak up the sunshine. They expect to be entertained, even wowed. And they know that they might even be required to download a few extra plugins to do that.

Now you are wondering just what all this has to do with “giving up the stuff that weights you down”. Well so many times I see clients who come to me with a preset notion of what the look and feel for their site should be. For example, you want your web site to be all pink and pastels because those are your favorite colors. But you are selling electronic equipment. I would tell you that you need to “give up stuff that is weighting you down”. For your web site to “fly”, you will need to appeal to your customers, many of who will not exactly feel comfortable with a lot of pink fluff. Now if you were selling baby clothes or “girly tee shirts” (as does one of my clients) , then you would be right on target with your pink.

Color choices are not the only “stuff” that might weight you down. An attorney, a doctor, or even a professor would need to forgo flashy gadgetry on a site and stick to something serious, and inspiring professionality. A site selling educational toys, however, would better appeal to the young toddler’s imagination with bright colors, funny images, games, even a silly sound or two.

It is great if we can manage to match your site to your personality, but more importantly it is essential to match that of your target audience.