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Define Your Audience
Dancing on the Web
Although many people will stumble across your address, who is the intended audience for your website? This seems pretty common-sensical; if your goal is to attract new and/or existing residents of your community to your congregation, then your audience is people in your community who are not affiliated with your congregation. If your goal is to publish information that's useful to your congregation's existing members, then your audience is your existing members.

Some possible audiences for congregational websites include:

  • people who are moving to your community
  • people who already live in your community but are not a part of your congregation
  • local members of your congregation
  • ex-members of your congregation
  • members who do not live locally
  • people globally who are interested in a certain cause or issue
  • other members of your denomination, sect, etc.
  • the online faith community as a whole
  • the online community as a whole.

If you want to include information on your organization's website for more than one audience, then you need to start figuring out which information is intended for which group so that you can organize your information most effectively. You might identify primary and secondary potential audiences and design content geared toward both. Ask yourself some marketing-type questions, such as:

  • What exactly is each audience looking for?
  • Which audience does my site most need to "grab" immediately?
  • Which audience is more likely to take the time to look a little more for the information they're seeking?

The answers to these questions will help you when you begin to structure and design your website.

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