S is for Strategy:
Not having a strategy is similar to not having a plan – why wouldn’t you use all the information you have/can get, and apply it to achieve your goals?

Your strategy should be built on your business plan goals, plus everything you know about your target market, the results of your past marketing efforts, and anything else that can give your strategy outcome a better rate of success. Taking risks can be worth it, but base it off knowledge, and make sure it’s trackable so you can properly measure how well it did!

T is for Target Market:
Having a solid focus on who your target market is helps drive your advertising and promotional efforts to the right audience. Consider where your potential clients are located or visit often. What are they looking for in a product/service? What problems do they have that you can solve? Where do they get their information before committing to buying a product/service? Are they multiple purchasers throughout the year, or one time buyers? How big is the average transaction? Get even more specific and look at if your target is consumers or other businesses.

Do you know your target market? Need some help?

U is for Useability:
Useability is considering what your visitor expects when they come to your website, and hitting each and every one of those expectations.

With today’s technology standards, they expect a lot – and they should. There’s no reason why a business shouldn’t be covering the most basic aspects of good layout, design and functionality.

Here are a few examples of basic expectations:

• they can browse your site on their computer or mobile device (no flash-based sites!)
• the basic structure of the site won’t change as they browse (ex. the menu won’t change position)
• they’ll get visual feedback when they click/hover on things that have actions associated with them (like a change in colour for links/buttons)
• can avoid unnecessary clicks as they navigate (no splash page)

These expectations are just the tip of the iceberg, you know your target market, list out what type of functionality they’re expecting and what will appeal to them – and start checking your site!