Before we can go any further we need to identify who our customers actually are, both current and our desired ones are.

When making analyses on the customers it's important first of all to know who your customers are. There are two equally important parts to this. Both your intended customer base and the reality.

Intended Customer Base

These are the people who you are aiming for when you write your content. For instance if you have a website about Ayurvedic medicine, you are likely to aim for the clientèle who is interested in healthy living, including diet, herbal medicine and alternative things such as yoga, meditation and acupuncture. Or if you have a website about educational tools for babies, you are aiming for young mothers.

Real Customer Base

This is the our real customer base, which hopefully will mostly consist of the your intended customers.

However let's examine reasons when our real customer base is not only your intended one.

Broader reach that intended

This is a good thing. You have managed to gain the interest of people who are interested in the wider aspect of your niche.

• In the case of educational toys for babies, you might attract customers, such as nannies or crèche owners.
• In the case of Ayurveda, people experiencing mental problems or wanting to loose weight.
• Different than intended georaphy
• Larger than intended age group, such as skin care products to women over 50 might be interesting to women in their 40s and 60s!
• Opposite sex. There are also some stay at home fathers out there

Advertising

Again this can be potential, as people click on our commercials as they peek their interest, although they would normally not be reading your content. Don't disregard these customers as they might recommend your site to someone else.

Search Engines

Sometimes you pop up on funny search results based on your keyword. These people will normally close your site as soon as their realise their mistake.

Customer Base

Want it or not, your customer base will be always a mixture of these two and we better learn how to make the best of it, by identifying not only who our customers are, but identifying WITH our customers.