Mention "defining your target audience" and most people's eyes glaze over. So let's talk about Birthdays.

If I said to you "Please go and buy a birthday present" you could react in one of two ways - you would either immediately run out the door, buy the first thing you see (a vacuum cleaner) and race back, or you would follow it up with a few more questions:

"Who is it for?"
"A man".
"Ok, I'll get him the latest DVD of Australian Idol."
"He's 65."
"Hmm. He probably hasn't heard of Australian Idol. I'll get him something practical, like a barbecue set."
"He is the CEO of a fortune 500 company."
"Ok, there is probably not much that he needs, and he probably doesn't have much time for barbecues, so I should get him something that he likes. I'll get him a beautiful, short-sleeved silk business shirt."
"He is very tall."
"Right. I don't know his size. I'll get him a good quality copy of the complete works of Shakespeare instead."
"He's Chinese and only knows basic English".
"Ok, I'll get him a CD of beautiful classical music".
"That would be great - thanks!"

Both solutions would have come up with the desired result - a gift. However, the second gift, (while causing great frustration for the purchaser) is far more likely to bring a smile to the face of it's elderly recepient.

It is the same with websites. You can easily jump in and build a website, but unless you know who it is for and why you are doing it you could annoy, offend, amuse or disappoint your clients. Knowing what they don't like is almost as important as knowing what they do like. Think of your website as being your birthday gift to your clients and potential clients. If they are happy with it, they will want to do business with you. That's their gift to you.

The more you know about your clients, the happier you will make them and the better your website will work. How do I do that, you ask? Easy. Survey them. Watch them. Ask them. Write it down.

Now the tricky part. You know your clients are not a homogenous group. What you need to do now is to identify common traits and common goals. Take your time. You can't be all things to all people.

When you have done this you can start building. Build your website for them, not you. All too often, as web developers, we hear "I don't like that colour" or "I think this would look better here". Maybe that is true, but what we need to hear from you is: "My clients don't like this colour" "They think this would work better if it was here". When we start hearing that, we know your website will be a success.