Your first two questions

Who’s your target audience? And what’s your purpose?�?

Who’s your target audience?
The duty of a writer is to think of the reader first, last and always. The same is true of the web designer. You must have a clear idea of whom you are attempting to reach in order to be effective. A website of interest to teenagers, will not interest adults. Women and men respond to different approaches and topic areas. Individuals of different occupations, educational backgrounds, ethnic and cultural heritages need to be approached differently.

How?
So the question is: how do you go about doing this? The first step is to imagine a typical visitor to your website. This does two things. First, it makes the concept of audience analysis more concrete if you think about it in terms of a single person. Secondly, it reminds you that no matter how many visitors come to your site, they all come one at a time. All communication in the end is one-on-one.

Demographics. Consider the basic defining characteristics of the individual. Some basic considerations include: age, gender, ethnicity, cultural background, language usage, educational background, occupation, political affiliations, religious background, and special interests like hobbies.

Psychographics. Originally coined by marketing experts during the 1970s and 80s, this refers to the setting in which the person receives the message. For instance, what time of day are they accessing the website? Are they surfing from home? At work? At school? Do they use a public computer or a private one? Do they have time to read something long or are they in a hurry?

What’s Your Purpose?
Once you have a clear idea of your visitor, answering the next question becomes easier: Why does this website exist? What are you giving to this typical visitor when they arrive?

Before you think about design or graphics, HTML code or search engine submissions, you must answer these two questions. Without having a clear vision of your audience and your purpose, regardless of its technical perfection, your website will fail to see the results you desire.