This is a question at the starting point of your research;
How big is our market? Is the potential audience growth in the market or reducing? ( In this case, you will need to use a tool called Google Trends to help you solve this problem.)
What are our key personas- their demographics, roles, needs, and wants and their motivations? ( if you do not have enough time, Craig Bradford’s Persona Research in less than five minutes will show you how to come up with insights using Twitter.)
How do the key personas behave both online and offline? What are the touchpoints they visit beyond the site?
The above steps will enable you to build your website architecture around the areas your potential customers need to undergo before reaching their goals. You also need to master the use of relevant keywords when writing your content. This process should be done before the site is built since it guides you on which pages you need to focus on specific intents and the keywords to use.
Who are our digital competitors?
Knowledge of who will be your competitors in the online space helps to make informed decisions on site architecture, user experience, and user outreach. You need to identify who fall under the following categories;
1.You search competitors- these are the ones who rank for the product or service you offer. They will be competing for the same keywords with the ones you are targeting but may be catering to a very different intent.
- Competitors aiming to solve the same problem you want to solve.
- Cross-industry competitors- these are the ones who solve your target customers’ problems indirectly.
After identifying them, you need to budget for the resources you need to get where each stands.