A lot of businesses think they have a website problem when really they have an audience problem. They start looking at adding features, changing the homepage, refining the branding, or tweaking the offer, but if they are not clear on who they are trying to attract and what that person actually wants, most of those changes are just guesswork. And guesswork gets expensive fairly quickly.
When I was younger, I used to go fishing a lot with my stepdad. We would fish locally in the estuary system, and sometimes head to Fraser Island for a bigger few-day trip. One thing I never really understood as a kid, but now makes perfect sense, was how particular he was about bait. In the estuary we would often use worms. If you were chasing tailor off Fraser, it would be pilchards on a gang hook. If you wanted dart, you would use pipis. The point was simple. You used the right bait for the right fish because that is what they already wanted.
That same principle applies in business. If you want to attract the right people, your message, branding, content and website need to match the person you are trying to reach and the problem they are trying to solve. Otherwise you are just throwing things out there and hoping something sticks.
What a client avatar actually is
That is really what a client avatar is. Not some fluffy marketing exercise, but a clear picture of your ideal client. Who they are, what they care about, what is going on in their world, and what problem has led them to start looking for someone like you. That problem will look different depending on the business. A physio client wants relief from pain. Someone looking for a coach may want clarity, accountability or change. Someone buying artwork might be trying to create a certain feeling in their home or fill a space that feels empty. Different audience, different motivation, different decision-making process.
This is why broad messaging so often underperforms. A lot of people think they should cast the widest net possible to get the most leads. On paper, that sounds sensible. In practice, broad often means vague, and vague tends not to convert. You may get more people through the door, but if they are the wrong people, they will not stay long, they will not engage properly, and they are unlikely to buy. It is a bit like dragging in a net full of things you cannot actually use. More volume does not automatically mean more value.
A real example from a recent client call
I had a call the other day with a client who wanted to add a shopping cart, refine the homepage and make a few other website changes. Before getting into any of that, I opened Google Analytics. I always want to see what visitors are actually doing before recommending changes. In this case, the traffic was low, visitors from organic social were only staying for around five or six seconds, and organic search was doing only slightly better. There were a few keywords bringing people in, but the bigger issue was that the website was not yet clearly aligned to a defined audience.
She is an artist, and a bit of a quirky one in a good way, with work that has a lot of personal meaning, growth and journey behind it. So I asked the obvious question. Who exactly is this for? Who are you trying to serve, and what are they actually looking for when they land here? She had some initial thoughts, which was a good start, but it was clear we needed to refine that further before touching the site itself.
A practical way to clarify your audience
That is why I gave her some homework and also built a ChatGPT prompt to help. The prompt is designed to dig deeper into the ideal client, review the website, and help clarify the avatar in a more useful way. Once that is clearer, we can make far better decisions about the website, the messaging, the structure, and the journey through the site. In other words, we can choose the right bait before worrying about the rod.
If your website is not converting, or if you are unsure what needs changing, there is a decent chance the real issue is not the design or the features. It may simply be that your message is too broad, your audience is not clearly defined, or the people landing on the site do not immediately feel that it is for them.
Before you start rebuilding things, it is worth getting that part right first.
If that would be useful, I have linked the ChatGPT prompt below. It is a practical way to think through your audience more clearly before spending time and money changing the wrong things.